Fastenal Company (FAST) is Minnesota based industrial construction equipment and hardware supplier. At the time of this post (11:00AM CST), FAST is currently trading at 42.68, down 6.77% on the day. The stock is currently trading well within the lower portion of its 52 week range of 40.18-52.21 after today’s significant gap lower on the market open has continued to sell off and push FAST back towards the yearly lows that printed in mid-October.

Earlier this morning at approximately 10:03AM, OptionHacker detected and flagged some unusually bearish options activity in FAST as over 10,200 of the Mar ’15 43.0 strike puts traded in a sweep transaction that lifted the offer across multiple exchanges. This large block transaction went off at the ask of 1.55, and when compared to the minimal open interest of just 12 contracts in the strike going into the day, we can confidently surmise this was an opening bearish transaction. With an initial cash outlay of about $1,585,500 before commissions, the trader who got long these puts will be looking for a continuation lower in FAST, back towards the 52 week lows going into the monthly March options expiration 44 days out. The current technical setup seems to confirm this bearish bias, as FAST is now below the Ichimoku Cloud and most relevant moving averages on the daily chart. While there has been no confirmed news out on the company at this point that would explain today’s bearish action, we will be keeping a close eye on FAST moving forward, and looking for a move lower in the coming month.

Trade: A trader bought 10,231 FAST Mar 43 Puts for $1.55
Risk: $155 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $41.45

This is a nearly $1.6 million bet that FAST sells off through March expiration. FAST is looking weak below the cloud today.

Costco Wholesale Corporation (COST) is a Washington state based retailer that operates over 650 wholesale club locations across the world. As of the time of this post (2:05PM CST), COST is currently trading at 150.27, up 2.29% on the day. The stock continues its strong bullish uptrend that has carried on throughout the year, and today we saw COST break out to fresh 52 week highs as the stock printed as high as 150.88 just moments ago.

Earlier this afternoon OptionHacker detected and flagged some unusually bullish options activity in COST just moments before the stock broke out above the 149.00 level and continued to rally higher. At around 1:20PM CST OptionHacker flagged a large sweep of 1,481 of the weekly 150 strike calls that are expiring this Friday, February 6th. A trader stepped in and lifted the offer of 0.99 across multiple exchanges, representing an initial cash outlay of approximately $146,619 before commissions. Going off against an open interest in the strike of just 77 contracts, we can confidently surmise that this was a bullish opening position. With just over three full trading sessions remaining before expiration, these calls represent an assertive bet that COST will be trading over the 150.99 break-even point (before commission costs) for this trader by Friday’s weekly option expiration. It seems as though the buyer of these calls was correct in doing so however, as at this time the calls flagged by OptionHacker have already traded as high as 2.12, signifying over 110% profits in the matter of an hour.

Trade: trader bought 1,481 of the COST Feb 6th Weekly 150 Calls for $0.99
Risk: $99 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $150.99

These calls have already more than doubled in value making this trade an absolute blowout winner.

Cameron International Corporation (CAM) is a Houston based oil and gas drilling equipment and services provider. At the time of this post (12:40PM CST), CAM is currently trading at 48.73, up 5.42% on the day. The stock is currently well within the lower portion of its 52 week trading range of 39.52-74.89, though the last few consecutive sessions have been relatively bullish as CAM has managed to bounce off of its 52 week low which printed on January 29th.

Earlier this morning at approximately 10:50AM OptionHacker detected and flagged some unusual options activity in CAM as a sizable block of 25,000 of the Feb ’15 50.0 strike calls were bought, lifting the offer of 0.90. This huge purchase went off against an open interest in the strike of just 1,405, confirming that this was in fact an opening long position, and that a trader was positioning for more upside in CAM heading into the monthly options expiration on February 20th. With an initial cash outlay of approximately $2,225,000 before commissions, this was certainly no small bet, and the purchaser of these calls was rewarded within just hours as already they have traded as high as 1.15 on the day. Fortunately OptionHacker detected and flagged this large opening transaction before the stock price and call value pushed higher, and we were able to get long these calls alongside this large buyer, profiting on the way up as CAM continues its rebound off the lows on the daily chart.

Trade: I bought the CAM Feb 50 calls for $0.95
Risk: $95 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimited
Breakeven: $50.95

I have already taken profit targets in this trade as high as $1.15 making this a very profitable setup.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (UAL) is a Chicago based airline corporation that provides both passenger and freight transportation services under the United Airlines brand. At the time of this post (1:00PM CST), UAL is currently trading at 68.15, down 1.76% on the session. The stock is currently well within the upper portion of its 52 week trading range of 36.65-74.52, and has remained in a notably strong uptrend since mid-October, after testing and holding the 40.00 support level on a daily chart.

Although the stock is lower today it has made a large swing off of its lows of the day. UAL traded as low as $65.74 this morning. Earlier this morning a trader bought 2,272 UAL Feb 70 calls for $1.65. Later in the session another trader bought 1,000 of these same calls for $3.03 as the stock rallied higher. If a trader would have taken the first order tht came across the tape they would have been able to net huge profits in these calls. Even though the markets are volatile unusual options activity still provides opportunity.

Trade: A Trader bought 2,272 UAL Feb 70 calls for $1.65
Risk: $165 per 1 lot
Reward: Unlimtied
Breakeven: $71.65

Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM) is a Texas based oil and natural gas producer and currently the largest oil and gas company in the world by total market capitalization. As of the time of this post (12:10PM CST), XOM is currently trading 86.91, down 0.77% on the day. The stock is continuing to press the 52 week lows just over 86.00 as crude oil futures continue their downward slide and weigh heavily on the stock prices of most related companies. XOM is scheduled to report earnings this coming Monday, 2/2/2015 before the market open.

Over the last eight quarters of earnings data available, XOM has traded with mixed results, moving higher and lower evenly, four out of eight sessions immediately following the EPS release. The average historical move during this same time period was 1.5%. Currently the options market is pricing in a slightly lower than average move of approximately 0.91% based on the current pricing of the at-the-money straddle. This would imply a directional move of about 0.80 in the underlying stock by next Friday’s weekly options expiration. On a technical basis, XOM continues to look extremely weak, well below the downward sloping Ichimoku Cloud and all relevant moving averages on a daily chart. The stock continues to lack any significant buying pressure, and looks to remain bearish in the near term as long as crude oil prices continue their extended decline. For these reasons, I am heavily leaning bearish this name going into earnings, and will be looking to establish a short position before this afternoon’s close.

Potential Trade: Buying the XOM Feb 6th Weekly 84.5-83.5 Put Spreads for $0.30
Risk: $30 per 1 lot
Reward: $70 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $84.20

Elizabeth Arden, Inc. (RDEN) is a Florida based consumer beauty line manufacturer and distributor most well known for their makeup and men’s and women’s fragrance products. As of the time of this post (9:40AM CST), RDEN is currently trading at 15.49, down 0.69% on the day. The stock is currently trading just a dollar off of the 52 week lows of 14.50 which printed in late October, and it continues to press to the downside after falling over 60% from the yearly highs in April.

RDEN sold off hard yesterday on some bearish unusual options activity that hit the tape near the open. A trader bought 4,971 RDEN Jun 15 puts for $1.35. As the stock sold off these puts ripped higher. This was the most profitable trade to hit the tape yesterday. The stock sold off from $16.82 to $15.39 during yesterdays session. The puts rallied as high as $1.85 on yesterdays session and traded as high as $1.90 during today session as the stock continued to sell off. Even though the market sold off hard yesterday OptionHacker still provided a great opportunity for profits in RDEN.

Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is a Seattle based e-commerce retailer and distributor, with additional market presence in online web services and digital content distribution. As of the time of this post (11:45 AM CST), AMZN is currently trading at 303.87, nearly flat on the day. The stock is currently trading firmly within the lower portion of its 52 week trading range of 284-406.25, and has remained in this relatively bearish consolidation area for most of the past year. The company is scheduled to report earnings today, 1/29/2015 after the market close.

Over the last eight quarters of earnings data available, AMZN has traded mostly bearishly, moving lower on five out eight sessions immediately following the EPS release. The average historical move during this same time period has been 7.9%, however it may be worth noting that AMZN has sold off after each of the last four consecutive earnings reports, posting an average move during this time period of -9.8%. Currently the options market is pricing in a slightly lower than average implied move of approximately 7.54% in the underlying stock based on the pricing of the at-the-money straddle, which would represent about a $23.00 change in the stock price by tomorrow’s weekly options expiration. On a technical basis, AMZN is currently trading below the downward sloping Ichimoku Cloud and between most of the relevant moving averages. In conjunction with AMZN’s recent tendency to sell off after earnings, I am definitely leaning bearish this name and will be looking to establish a short position before this afternoon’s report.

Potential Trade: Buying the AMZN Jan 30th Weekly 290-280 Put Spreads for $2.40
Risk: $240 per 1 lot
Reward: $760 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $287.60

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (BABA) is the ADR for Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group, the largest e-commerce company in the world. At the time of this post (12:30PM CST), BABA is currently trading at 100.37, down 2.49% on the day. The stock is currently trading near the middle of its post-IPO trading range of 82.81-120.00 after the stock debuted on the NYSE in late September. BABA is scheduled to report earnings tomorrow, 1/29/2015 before the market open.

Last quarter’s earnings report was the first and only on BABA’s record, so while the data is limited, it can be noted that the stock traded higher immediately after last quarter’s EPS, making a move up of 4.2% in the session immediately following the data release. The options market is currently pricing in a larger move of about 7.31% following tomorrow’s announcement, which would represent nearly an equivalent dollar-value move in the stock by this Friday’s weekly options expiration. BABA is currently trading just inside the Ichimoku cloud on a daily chart, and is holding above key 100 level support after initially trading lower in today’s early session. With some of the recent momentum we’ve seen in technology names after earnings, and after witnessing the bullish investor reaction to last quarter’s BABA EPS release, I will be looking to establish a long position in this name going into this afternoon’s close.

Potential Trade: Buying the BABA Jan 30th Weekly 104-106 Call Spreads for $0.55
Risk: $55 per 1 lot
Reward: $145 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $104.55

Facebook, Inc. (FB) is a California based social networking and information technology provider. At the time of this post (11:45AM CST) FB is currently trading at 77.33, up 2.05% on the day on a generally strong trading session for techs thus far on the heels of Apple’s big earnings beat yesterday evening. FB is currently well within the upper portion of its 52 week trading range of 53.19-82.17, and the company is set to report earnings today, 1/28/2014 after the market close.

Over the last eight quarters of earnings data available, FB has traded mostly bullishly, moving higher on five out of eight sessions immediately following the EPS release. The average historical move during this same time period was 8.1%. Currently the options market is pricing in a slightly lower than usual implied move of approximately 7.07% based on the current pricing of the at-the-money straddle. This would represent an anticipated move of approximately $5.48 in the underlying stock by this Friday’s weekly options expiration. FB is currently trading well over the upward sloping Ichimoku cloud and most relevant moving averages on the daily chart, and has found strong buying support near the intraday lows near 76.00 which held today. As a result of FB’s tendency to trade higher immediately after earnings in conjunction with the current bullish technical setup, I will be leaning bullish this name and looking to establish a long position heading into today’s close.

Potential Trade: Buying the FB Jan 30th Weekly 81-83 Call Spreads for $0.50
Risk: $50 per 1 lot
Reward: $150 per 1 lot
Breakeven: $81.50

Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) is a California based information technology and digital content provider, well known for its eponymous search engine, and also for high-profile acquisitions of popular services such as Flickr and Tumblr. At the time of this post (12:30PM CST), YHOO is currently trading at 48.37, down 2.16%. YHOO has been unable to avoid the downward pull of the overall market this morning on a significant gap down along with the indexes, but the stock still remains just off its 52 week highs in a trading range of 32.15-52.62 for the year. YHOO is scheduled to report earnings today, 1/27/2015 after the market close.

Over the last eight quarters of earnings data available, YHOO has traded mostly bearishly, moving lower on five out of eight sessions immediately following the EPS release. The average historical move during this same time period was 4.9%. Currently the options market is pricing in almost double the historical average, reflecting an implied move of about 9.12% based on the current pricing of the at-the-money straddle. This would imply about a $4.40 move in the underlying stock by this Friday’s weekly options expiration. Although on a technical basis YHOO remains inside the upward sloping Ichimoku Cloud on a daily chart, the stock has been unable to rally and hold above the key 50.00 level resistance and has pulled back sharply off these levels so far in 2015. With questions abound regarding how Yahoo! will manage their stake in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba (also reporting earnings this Thursday), I remain skeptical of the company’s ability to appease investors, and in conjunction with YHOO’s propensity to sell off after earnings, I am leaning bearish this name going into today’s EPS report. I will be looking to establish a short position in YHOO going into today’s close.

Potential Trade: Buying the YHOO Jan 30th Weekly 45-44 Put Spreads for $0.25
Risk: $25 per 1 lot
Reward: $75 per 1 lot
BReakeven: $44.75