Bulls Target Mattel, Delta: Options Recap

OptionMonster co-founder Pete Najarian provides options picks Monday, Wednesday and Friday in TheStreet.com's Deep in the Money Calls newsletter.

David Russell, reporter for OptionMonster.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Trader bets on Kroger(KR Quote) before earnings: The grocery operator will report earnings after the bell tomorrow, and at least one investor is confident the shares will hold their ground.

Options are bullish on Mattel(MAT Quote): At least one investor is bullish on the toymaker and apparently thinks that the stock will keep climbing through early 2010.

How the S&P rally looks in euros: A factor that can be easy to overlook, given the natural tendency in markets to a home country bias, is that foreigners hold significant assets in markets other than their own.

Monster Worldwide(MWW Quote) options see top: The job-listing company has rallied 32% in the last three months to a potential resistance level, prompting one trader to sell calls.

Skyworks Solutions(SWKS Quote) draws volatility trade: Volatility has been climbing in the chipmaker since late August, and at least one trader apparently expects the trend to continue.

When to use a 'backspread': The backspread is the flip-side of the ratio spread. They are virtually the same except that when you sell it is a ratio spread and when you buy it is a backspread.

Monday Pre-Market:

Short-term risk in major indices: It would take a lot to reverse the longer-term upward trends in the major indexes, but there is some concern in the short term from a technical perspective.

Put activity surges in regional banks: The activity involves Regions Financial(RF Quote), KeyCorp(KEY Quote), SunTrust Banks(STI Quote), and BB&T(BBT Quote). The biggest blocks were bought around the same time Friday, suggesting that one player was behind it all.

Bulls snapping up calls in Frontier Oil(FTO Quote): The refiner's shares have been range-bound for months, but options are looking for the stock to break higher by this fall.