Put Volume Soars on Walgreen (WAG)

Shares of Walgreen Co. WAG are lower on the session by 1.78%, currently trading $30.29. The stock has been falling sharply for the past six weeks and is now sitting on the $30 historical support level. Options trading is favoring the put side today. The June $31 strikes has traded 2,060 times on open interest of 5,035 contracts, the June $29 put traded 1,050 times on open interest of 287 contracts, the July $31 put traded 3,180 times on open interest of 7,207 contracts, the July $29 put traded 8,520 times on open interest of 840 contracts, and, finally, the October $32 put traded 1,970 times on open interest of 582 contracts. Put volume is running at over 5x the daily average, though less than 10% of all puts traded have been purchases on the offer, signaling a form of bullishness for the stock. Walgreen Co. is engaged in retail drugstore business. As of August 31, 2009, the Company operated 7,496 locations in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam.