Reply #12: Unusual trades in Countrywide calls raise eyebrows

[ozymandius]

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Unusual call trading in Countrywide Financial Corp on Thursday before news that Bank of America Corp was in talks to buy it has some option players asking if word of a pending deal had leaked to the market.

About 304,000 calls compared with 248,000 puts traded in Countrywide, a combined volume five times its normal level, according to market research firm Trade Alert.

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That included about 19,000 January contracts, allowing holders to buy Countrywide stock at $5, which traded before the stock leaped above $8 after the Wall Street Journal reported the possible takeover of the top U.S. mortgage lender.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUKN1021705420080111