MER Put Volume Forecasts Chilly December By Rebecca Darst About this article: With the entire financial space representing a corridor of weakness in the market today, the price of contracts to sell shares in Merrill Lynch are extraordinarily dear, especially given the 6% drop in its share price, to $10.71 (around its 52-week low), since the brokerage's shotgun marriage with Bank of America earlier this year. Our attention was grabbed today by its volume, which weighs in at twice the normal level, and the preponderance of puts, which are outstripping calls by more than six to one at present. What's interesting here is the divergence of views expressed by option traders in the near-expiration November contract vs. December. November $10 puts have attracted heavy action at more than 6 times the open interest (some 30,000 contracts all told), with three-quarters of this volume bought on the offer, which would indicate traders taking a 40-cent credit on the... Or, call us at 1-866-321-TSCM (8726) Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-6 p.m. ET. Outside the U.S. and in Canada, call 1-212-321-5200. More Stories From RealMoney Durable Goods Up Move Down the Tech Food Chain Jobless Claims Still High Bulls' Tenacity Is the Big Question Mark Should You Buy It? Pharmaceutical Product Development Bad News Trumps All Support for Banks Holds, For Now Bummer, Yields Are on the Rise Money on the Line Makes a Big Difference Structured Products: Unsafe at Any Price MORE STORIES FROM REALMONEY

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