Benzinga Nails AirTran's Rally (AAI)

Shares of AirTran Holdings, Inc. AAI are skyrocketing today on news that it will be acquired by Southwest Airlines LUV for $1.4 billion; shares are currently higher by 58.02%, trading at $7.19. Just last week, on September 21st, Benzinga highlighted curious call buying on the $5.00 strikes across multiple months, pushing overall call buying to over 5x the daily average. Those options, which were trading for $0.15, are now worth nearly $2.30—a gain of 1,433%. This is just another case of how following institutional options flow can lead to major gains in the marketplace. AirTran Holdings, Inc. conducts all of its flight operations through its wholly owned subsidiary, AirTran Airways, Inc. The company operates scheduled airline service throughout the United States and to selected international locations. Approximately half of its flights originate or terminate at its hub in Atlanta, Georgia and it serves a number of markets with non-stop service from its focus cities of Baltimore, Maryland, Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Orlando, Florida. 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.