Jim Cramer Blog

After what appeared to be a couple of high-density put-side calendar rolls in connection with Friday’s July option contract expiry, oil and gas driller El Paso (NYSE: EP - News) continues to command a high level of relative put side volume in Monday’s early market action. With underlying shares down 2.25 percent, trading at $18.00, put spread activity has continued in the August series at the 17 and 18 strikes. About 15,000 lots have traded on each of the two strike levels, pushing the total ratio of put versus call volume to about 18 to 1. Last week, the company announced that it had received a so-called Wells Notice from the SEC regarding preliminary enforcement action pertaining to prior revisions to its oil and gas reserve disclosures. Limited call-side activity this morning can be discerned at the August 20.0 strike, where 1,000 lots traded today. A total of 36,638 lots have traded this morning. El Paso currently has nearly 230,000 open option contracts outstanding.

Labels: El Paso Corp., EP