A significant surge in option market betting for Sony was suspicious in light of the recent pronouncments by a large hedge fund for the need for the Japanese firm to undergo restructuring. This has raised concerns that some traders may have obtained advance news on the recent activity.
The listed shares in the United States for Sony had increased by 9.9% or close to US$20.76 after Third Point hedge fund of Daniel Loeb announced last Tuesday it had accumulated more than 6% of shares in Sony. This stake translates to about US$1.1 billion, which makes ThirdPoint the largest single shareholder in the electronics company.
A day before the announcement though, the trade volume in Sony increased by nearly seven times the daily average in the last three months. The volume traded for the stock increased to 6.1 million shares, double the average 2.7 million shares in the past 25 days.
While there is no direct evidence linking the increased trade activity prior to the announcement from ThirdPoint's Daniel Loeb, it may just be a sign of the increased speculation in the Japanese stock market.
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