Oil's Plunge Below $50 Sends Options Trading Into a Frenzy
- Volumes surge to record for Brent, WTI contracts combined
- Bets on Brent reaching $70 by September also hit record
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Oil’s plunge through $50 a barrel set the options market on fire.
A record number of options contracts -- equivalent to more than 800 million barrels of crude oil -- changed hands on Thursday, according to exchange data compiled by Bloomberg. The tally includes trading for Brent and West Texas Intermediate crude in London and New York and shows a surge in bets that the former will reach $70 a barrel by September.