From Steve Smith. Bon-Ton shares are up 10c to $15.70, a new 52-week high and looks like someone is rolling up a bullish call position. In this trade, the strategist apparently sold the July $15s 9300X to buy July $17.50 calls 8500X. The spread, at a 95-cent debit (as if one-to-one), looks like selling to close the 15s on a position that was opened on 3/25 when the stock was around $12.90 and call was 95c. This roll higher would essentially create a new bullish position at a net zero cost.

This action is interesting as its part of a longer-term trade. We first noticed bullish activity in BONT on December 8. Then, with shares around $8.40 on Feb 12 (premium), there was rolling seen out of April and into July 10 calls. By March 5(premium), shares had risen to $11.20 and the strategist rolled up to the 12.5 strike. The position was rolled up again to the 15s in late March and now again to the 17.5s.

Tracking these kind of trades over time can be interesting because it can help identify trading ideas and opportunities in specific names that we might like for other reasons — either the fundamentals are strong or the technicals are improving, or both. That is, analyzing options order flow adds another element to the process of finding and analyzing good trading opportunities that make money. We offer a continuous stream of ideas and updates like this one with WhatsTrading.com Premium. With the flow monitor, it’s even easier to see past activity. Simply enter the symbol, then 1 for color, then the + for historical color.