TLT Sees Heavy Options Volume as Long-Term Treasury Yields Rise

According to CNBC, the iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF, TLT, drew about 1.6 million option contracts on Thursday, nearly double its average daily volume, as 30-year U.S. Treasury yields rose another 7.6 basis points. The 856,750 put contracts traded were about 3.3 times the average, with the most active contract the October 79 put at 123,649 contracts and an average price of $0.4786 per contract. One of the largest trades was an October 80/79 put spread that traded 65,000 contracts for a net debit of $0.275 per spread, a nearly $1.8 million bet that TLT will fall below the $80 strike by October expiration. TLT closed at $80.78 after hitting an intraday 52-week low of 80.665.