Options update…

Total option volume including Brent and WTI was heavy yesterday with 387,284 trading, 232,867 calls and 154,417 puts… 18,012 June 95 calls and 19,705 June 100 calls traded in Brent, almost all of these trading as a spread. The trade looks like someone is rolling length down from the 100 to 95 call (still showing confidence in a market rally)… Open interest was up 14,234 in the June 95 call but down almost 10,000 in the 100 call… Still, a developing pattern seems to be despite a lot less put than call volume, but open interest changes are close… Traders have been buying upside calls and call spreads for over a year, so perhaps we are seeing some profit taking, rolling and new call buying where as on the put side, anecdotal evidence suggests producers are not hedging as much and speculators are not bearish… Implied vol popped up to 41.1 in March and 40.7 in April, +4.5 and +3.6, which is expected in a sharp downward price move…