Reddit Talk Sparks Massive Speculation on Lumber Liquidators

LL shares are spiking today

Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc (NYSE:LL) is in focus today, with the stock last seen trading 27% higher at $10.38, fueled by online speculation that the shares could keep rocketing higher. This price action has LL pacing for its first close atop the 200-day moving average since mid-December, and options activity is through the roof in the meantime.

So far today, roughly 75,000 calls have traded, compared to a daily average of about 1,300. New positions are opening at a number of strikes in the March series, including the 10, 11, and 12 calls. There's little to mention on the put side of things, since calls account for the top 20 most popular contracts.

This extends the bullish activity seen on Lumber Liquidators at the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX). During the past 10 days across these exchanges, almost 15 long calls have crossed for each long put. The picture is a bit muddied for LL, however, since the amount of shares sold short on the security equates to more than nine times the daily trading average, so some of these bears could be using call options to hedge.