TD Ameritrade Chief Strategist Sees Potential 4% Move In Google Shares

Speaking to Benzinga ahead of the Google Inc GOOG GOOGL earnings release, TD Ameritrade Chief Strategist JJ Kinahan said that “options activity in Google tends to be muted” and it is “not a big trading stock” for options traders.

For example, Wednesday morning, Kinahan noted that just over 10,000 options had traded on Google while 168,000 options had traded on Facebook Inc FB. Kinahan also indicated that due to the high price of Google’s stock, the premium values on options is also relatively high, making it more difficult to trade options for smaller accounts.

Based on the implied volatility in the options market, Kinahan said the market expects an approximate $22 move in the shares (up or down), or just over 4 percent, after the company's earnings release.

Because the trading volume is relatively low, it was difficult to get a clear picture on market expectations, however, the weekly $550 calls had “the most interest so far [on Wednesday]." The probability of touching the $500 level “through Friday is only about 28 percent” and approximately 33 percent on GOOGL shares, according to Kinahan.

Google closed at $510.00 Wednesday, down 1.66 percent; GOOGL share class closed at $512.43, down 1.68 percent.

Kevin Riley and Brianna Valleskey contributed to this report.