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How a Trader Made $124 Million in AMC Options in Four Days

Last week, my unusual options activity scanner spotted an AMC options trade that seemed far-fetched. The result was $124 million in four days.

Less than a week ago I wrote to my Cabot Options Trader/Cabot Options Trader Pro subscribers regarding a large call buy in AMC Entertainment (AMC). Here’s what I wrote about some eye-popping AMC options trading activity.

A Very Successful AMC Options Trade

“Here is the most ludicrous of the call buys:

“Buyer of 35,000 AMC June 40 Calls for $1.50 – Stock at 18

“This trader would need AMC to rally 22 points in the next four weeks for these calls to finish in-the-money.

“While I think this scenario is very unlikely, we have seen AMC, GME, RKT, FUBO etc. go crazy in the past, so anything is possible.”

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Boy oh boy was I wrong that this call buy was ludicrous. Since then, AMC has rallied from 18 to a high of 72! (Predictably, it was down BIG on Thursday on the heels of the huge rally.)

At that 72 top, these June 40 calls originally purchased for $1.50, were worth $37, or a potential profit of $3,550 per call purchased … or a net profit of $124,250,000. That isn’t a misprint. This trader made $124 million in four trading days!

And while we didn’t get involved with this trade (unfortunately), tracking unusual option activity is the number one strategy we use at Cabot Options Trader, allowing us to lock in profits of over 1,100% in Peloton (PTON), 397% in Freeport McMoran (FCX) and over 350% in General Motors (GM) and Sonos (SONO), all within the last eight months.

How My Unusual Options Activity Scanner Works

My most successful strategy throughout my two-decade options trading career, using my unusual options activity scanner helps me find the next hot stock. Here’s how it works.

The first—and perhaps biggest—challenge of options trading is understanding what an option is.

An option is a contract giving you the right, but not the obligation, to buy or sell a specific security at a specific price over a specific period of time. After that period of time has elapsed (known as “expiration day”), the option ceases to exist.

Call options give you the right to buy the security.

Put options give you the right to sell the security.

There are numerous types of options trades. Depending on which method you choose, options trading can be used to hedge a portfolio, create yield or gain significant market exposure and returns with little capital risk.

When my proprietary options screener alerts me to a trader buying 10,000 calls and risking many millions of dollars, my alarm bells go off. Who is buying these calls, and why is he taking such a big position? Does he have insider information?

Warren Buffett, Carl Icahn and Bill Ackman are just a few of the many hedge funds and institutions known for using options to build positions.

As noted above, this strategy of following hedge funds and institutions into trades has been wildly successful for subscribers to my Cabot Options Trader and Cabot Options Trader Pro advisories. And for that reason, we have closed the services to new members as we were moving the stock and options markets with our trades.

However, our newest options service, Cabot Profit Booster, which combines my options trading skills with Cabot Top Ten Trader Chief Analyst Mike Cintolo’s growth stock picking strategy, is open, and has been racking up profits as seen below:

I missed the AMC options trade, but my Cabot Profit Booster has nonetheless performed quite well.

If those look like the kind of consistent weekly returns you’re looking for, you can become a Cabot Profit Booster subscriber by clicking here.

Have you bought AMC Entertainment stock this year? If so, do you still own it or did you quickly book profits? Tell us about your experience.

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Jacob Mintz is a professional options trader and editor of Cabot Options Trader. Using his proprietary options scans, Jacob creates and manages positions in equities based on unusual option activity and risk/reward.