Puts Purchased on Randgold Resources (GOLD)

Shares of Randgold Resources GOLD are lower on the session by 2.35%, currently trading at $85.12. The stock has been moving largely lower over the past three months and is currently trading below the 50-day and 200-day moving averages. Options traders are buying puts on the name today. A short while ago the January 2011 $85.00 put was purchased 2,700 times, on the offer, on open interest of only 1,412 contracts and the Jan $80.00 put was purchased 1,200 times on open interest of 2,098. Overall put volume is now running at 3.69x the daily average with 99% of all puts traded being purchases on the offer. Randgold Resources Ltd. is engaged in gold mining, exploration and related activities. The company's activities are focused on West and Central Africa. In Mali, it has an 80% controlling interest in the Loulo mine through Societe des Mines de Loulo S.A.