Kaleidoscope of Butterflies Lie in Wait for Goldman Sachs Rebound

Today’s tickers: GS, BAC, AEA, QDEL, DUK, HTZ, EFA, MAR, PXD & WLP GS - Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. – Bullish options strategists touting butterfly wings were once again enticed by the sweet nectar of potential profits hinging on Goldman Sachs’ shares ability to continue to climb out of the hole created by the drama and uncertainty surrounding the SEC’s suit against the investment banking firm. Goldman’s shares are up 2.36% in late afternoon trading at $156.65, but the stock realized a 4.9% rebound in its shares from Tuesday’s intraday low of $150.15, to an intraday high of $157.45 during the current session. We observed bullish butterfly plays on Goldman Sachs each day this week suggesting investors are pre-ordering their tickets on the rebound-boat so as not to miss out on profits to the upside. Tuesday’s call-fly engaged the October 160/175/190 strikes while Monday’s butterfly spread involved the May 150/160/170 strikes. Today, butterflies parked themselves in the June contract, buying approximately 8,000 calls at the June $165 strike for a premium of $4.66 each [wing 1] and purchasing roughly 8,000 calls at the higher June $185 strike for $0.88 apiece [wing 2]. The body of the butterfly centered at the June $175 strike where some 16,000 calls were shed for an average premium of $1.99 a-pop. Average net premium paid for the spread amounts to just $1.56 per contract. The investor or investors holding the bullish stance stand ready to accrue maximum potential profits of $8.44 per contract should GS shares surge up to $175.00 by expiration day. The transaction is a very efficient way to act on bullish sentiment because maximum loss potential – $1.56 per contract in this case – is scant when compared to potential profits which are 5.4 times greater. Profits start to amass if Goldman’s shares rally 6.33% from the current price of $156.65 to breach the average breakeven price of $166.56 ahead of June expiration. Finally, not all optimistic options players selected the butterfly spread strategy. A long-term bullish trader targeted the October contract to enact a plain-vanilla debit call spread. The investor picked up 3,000 in-the-money calls at the October $155 strike for a hefty average premium of $16.50 apiece, and sold the same number of calls at the higher October $180 strike for $6.55 each. The net cost of the call spread amounts to $9.95 per contract, and yields maximum potential profits of $15.05…