Ominous Options Activity in Gold Miners ETF

Shares of the downtrodden

are down 3.4 percent Tuesday, extending the ETF's 90-day loss to 33.6 percent, and some traders are betting things could get worse for GDX. Citing a note from Interactive Brokers,

nearly 40,000 June $27 puts on GDX have changed hands today compared to open interest of 16,819 contracts. "It looks like the bulk of the volume was purchased for an average premium of $0.89 per contract. Put buyers stand ready to profit at June expiration should the price of the underlying plunge 9.5%," according to the Interactive Brokers note. The note appeared in the Barron's

in today's online edition. GDX was a holding at the end of the fourth quarter for hedge fund luminaries

. That has not prevented the ETF from performing noticeably worse than gold itself. The last time GDX outperformed the

, which is backed by physical gold, on a yearly basis was 2010. In the past year while GLD is down 11.5 percent, GDX has plunged 34.2 percent. Options traders do not appear too enthused by the prospects for the

, either. Volume in the GDXJ June $12 puts is 720 contracts today compared to open interest of 867 contracts,

. That ETF has lost almost 45 percent in the past year. For more on ETFs, click

.