The Dow Stock to Target Down the Stretch

JPM options can be had for a bargain right now

One of the best Dow stocks of 2019 turned out to be JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM), up 38% year-to-date. Although the security is fresh off an annual high of $135.78 on Friday, there's reason to believe JPM could keep climbing into the new year.

More specifically, JPM is the only Dow name to show up on Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of best stocks to own over the last half-month of the year. Looking out at the last 10 years, JPMorgan stock averaged a 2.3% gain in the last half of December, and was positive eight times.

At last check, JPM was up 0.2% to trade at $134.48 so a similar bounce would put it just under $138 and into uncharted territory. The shares' 20-day moving average has emerged as support during the fall; the trendline has only been toppled once on a closing basis in the last three months.

Options traders have been focusing their efforts on puts. At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), the stock's 10-day put/call volume ratio of 1.05 ranks in the 85th annual percentile. Echoing this, the stock's Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.17 ranks 4 percentage points from an annual high, showing there is an unusual put-skew in the front three-months' series.

Whatever the motive, for those wanting to speculate on JPM's next move with options, now might be an opportune time. The banking concern's Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 18% sits higher than just 11% of readings from the past year.