GE $10 Puts Active Ahead of Q1 Earnings -WSJ

Ahead of its Q1 earnings report, expected out on Friday, April 17, General Electric (NYSE: GE) investors are actively buying put options. According to a Wall Street Journal article, GE put options with a $10 strike price traded hands more than 110,000 times on Friday, well above its average daily volume. The action suggests that traders still want to be long the stock, but are hedging in case the results are worse-than-expected.

This time last year, investors weren't so prudent; GE missed the Street's Q1 estimates by 7 cents, and the stock sank, plummeting almost 13% as investors began realizing just how much exposure GE Capital had to the credit markets.

Investors may also be electing to buy puts as shares of GE have now risen by 91% since hitting a fresh 52-week low at $5.73 exactly one month ago.

Analysts are currently looking for GE to report Q1 EPS of $0.21, down 52% from the $0.44 the company reported during the same quarter last year.

After falling as much as 1.75% today, shares of GE have come rallying back. The stock most recently traded at $11.07, up 1.1% from Friday's closing price.

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