Bulls Target Morgan Stanley Ahead of Earnings

By Pete Najarian, co-founder of OptionMonster.

NEW YORK (OptionMonster) -- The bulls were active in Morgan Stanley (MS) Wednesday ahead of its earnings report this morning.

The January 17.50 calls dominated option trading in the investment bank, with more than 22,000 going for 29 cents to 40 cents, according to OptionMonster's tracking systems. The action was definitely positive overall, though a little hard to read because the volume was below open interest in the strike.

The February 19s painted a clearer picture because more than 8,000 contracts traded against previous positioning of just 2,859. Those calls were priced mostly at 30 cents and 32 cents.

Long calls lock in the price that traders must pay to buy shares, so they can provide substantial leverages if the stock rises. But timing is crucial because the options will expire worthless if they don't rally quickly enough.

Morgan Stanley's stock surged 6.77% to $17.35 Wednesday and has been climbing with the financial sector this year. It was the one of the strongest in the group Wednesday, slightly behind Goldman Sachs (GS).

Overall the activity was pretty extreme, with 98,000 contracts trading against the average of about 24,000.

Najarian owns MS calls.

This commentary comes from an independent investor or market observer as part of TheStreet guest contributor program. The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of TheStreet or its management.