Valeant Stock Dips Back Below 200-Day Moving Average

Shares of Valeant Pharmaceuticals Intl Inc (NYSE:VRX) are sliding for a second straight day, with traders possibly responding to a phase 3 trial update for Siliq -- a product of subsidiary Ortho Dermotologics. VRX stock was last seen 3.9% lower at $13.29, putting the equity on pace to close below its 200-day moving average for the first time in over a month. However, it bottomed out just above the $13 level earlier, a level that contained its late-August, early September pullback.

In the meantime, options traders are jumping on near-term puts. Put volume today is running at two times the expected pace, which is nothing new. Valeant has a Schaeffer's put/call open interest ratio (SOIR) of 1.86, ranking only 2 percentage points from a 12-month low. In other words, options traders targeting contracts that expire within three months have been unusually put-skewed.

It's hard to blame anyone for wanting to use short-term options to speculate on VRX stock. That's because the security has a Schaeffer's Volatility Index (SVI) of 41%, ranking just 2 percentage points from a 12-month low -- pointing toward lower-than-usual volatility expectations. Moreover, a Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) of 94 points toward a tendency to blow past options traders' expectations.

Mawson driven by Sunny Creek exposure through SXG holding

Gold stocks driven up by metal and equity gains

Gold stocks propelled by gain in metal and equities

Big Gold producers report strong Q1/24 results

Gold stocks decline as metal drop offsets equity risk on