GLD Put Trading Picks Up

Put buying hasn't been relatively popular on GLD

Gold-tracking exchange-traded fund (ETF) SPDR Gold Shares (GLD) is trading up 0.2% today at $148.15, as the coronavirus concerns push some investors to gold. In the meantime, options trading has picked up, with puts trading at six times the expected pace today.

The most popular contracts by far are the April 135 and 140 puts, where more than 156,000 contracts collectively have traded. New positions are opening, and anyone buying the puts would be betting on a move lower from GLD in the coming months.

Coming into today it was call buying that was the popular strategy around the security. The 10-day call/put volume ratio at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX) is 2.27, a number that ranks in the bullish 95th annual percentile.

More broadly, GLD is up 19% in the past 12 months, and hasn't traded below its 50-day moving average since December. Overall, the ETF is pacing for a sixth straight positive quarter.