Protection Purchased on Royal Gold (RGLD)

Shares of Royal Gold, Inc. RGLD are higher on the session by 0.79%, currently trading at $50.81. The stock has been moving largely higher over the past two months, off of a recent low near $42.15, though is now nearing resistance. Options traders are buying protection on the name today. A short while ago the January 2011 $40 call was purchased 1,000 times on open interest of 4,554 contracts and the January 2011 $35.00 put was purchased 1,500 times on open interest of 3,472 contracts. Put volume is now running at 6.65x the daily average. Royal Gold, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, is engaged in the business of acquiring and managing precious metals royalties and similar interests derived from production. The company focuses to acquire existing royalties or to finance projects that are in production or in development stage in exchange for royalty interests. As of June 30, 2010, the company owns royalties on 33 producing properties, 23 development stage properties and over 130 exploration-stage properties, of which the company considers 37 to be evaluation stage projects.32 producing properties. For more great research like this, as well as how to play it through options…please visit Benzinga's Options & Volatility Edge and Benzinga's Cash Generator.