A 1,462% Bet on Tiny Bright Health Stock (BHG) Shows Option Math Is Hard

[BMK]

BHG chart which went from $1400 to $14,

Those numbers are not what you think they are. There was a reverse stock split, and it is very, very likely that the reason someone bought worthless call options that were way out of the money with almost no time left to expiration is because they did not understand that the option strike prices did not mean what they would normally mean because the option multiplier had to be adjusted after the reverse stock split.

If you don't understand how a stock split affects options, they you are not going to understand the whole point of the article.

 

[BMK]

What motivated the buyer to purchase "worthless" options? Lol

Why are you putting the word worthless in quotes?

That implies that they were not actually worthless, when in fact they did expire worthless.

 

[maxinger]

Those numbers are not what you think they are. There was a reverse stock split, and it is very, very likely that the reason someone bought worthless call options that were way out of the money with almost no time left to expiration is because they did not understand that the option strike prices did not mean what they would normally mean because the option multiplier had to be adjusted after the reverse stock split.

If you don't understand how a stock split affects options, they you are not going to understand the whole point of the article.

I assume the chart has factored in the stock split.

Anyway, I wouldn't bother to check when / how much they split the stock.

Assuming they have been splitting and splitting the stock all along,
At the rate BHG is splitting the stock, soon it will be zero.

 

[athlonmank8]

Why? That is simple to answer. The real question is why the buyer got those specific options in this specific name at this specific time?

You underestimate pure stupidity or a simple accident. Those options were junk. There was no market for them. If it was a mistake, what were they supposed to do??? Theres a zero bid dude

 

[M.W.]

Stupidity and 5 does not go together. Ever. There is more to the story than meets the eye. My bet is on an attempt of insider trading.

You underestimate pure stupidity or a simple accident. Those options were junk. There was no market for them. If it was a mistake, what were they supposed to do??? Theres a zero bid dude

 

[newwurldmn]

Why are you putting the word worthless in quotes?

That implies that they were not actually worthless, when in fact they did expire worthless.

They haven't expired yet.

My guess is that an algo ran amuck. it kept trying to print and smarter algo's were happy to sell.

This equates to 5% of the notional of the company - it would trigger disclosures the moment they tried to unwind the trade. If one had inside information there are more effective ways to trade this that wouldn't elicit the views of regulators.

 

[taowave]

Read the article,and look before you leap

Why? That is simple to answer. The real question is why the buyer got those specific options in this specific name at this specific time?

 

[ironchef]

Why? That is simple to answer. The real question is why the buyer got those specific options in this specific name at this specific time?

It is too easy to blame insider trades.

I trade options like venture investing (or running a corporate R&D department). Usually 4 out of 5 or even 9 out of 10 expire worthless. But all you need is an occasional 10x to be profitable.

There are many clinical stage biotechs trading at deep discount and though 90% won't make it, a 10x payoff in options should easily compensate for the majority that will be worthless. Like venture investing, you just need the law of average and the law of large numbers.