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President Donald Trump’s declaration<\/a> that a ceasefire with Iran is over has traders betting on gains in crude oil and losses in airline stocks.<\/p>\n There’s just one big catch: airline stocks are up since the war began.<\/p>\n The U.S. Global Jets ETF<\/a> is down 4% Wednesday, extending a two-day decline after challenging all-time highs last week. The group is up 10% since the U.S.-Iran war started on Feb. 28, during which crude oil soared as much as 78% before erasing the gain entirely, as of last week.<\/p>\n Options trading in both crude oil and airline stocks suggests consumers may want to brace for a fresh repeat of conflict-driven pricing fluctuations. Put-buying accounted for almost 75% of all options trading in JETS Tuesday on volume about twice the 30-day average, according to ThinkOrSwim and Cboe LiveVol data. In the U.S. Oil ETF USO, traders bought more than 32,000 calls compared to just over 5,000 puts.<\/p>\n Stock Chart IconStock chart icon U.S. Global Jets ETF, YTD<\/p>\n “This has all the makings of a serious short squeeze under way,” Phil Streible, chief strategist at Blue Line Futures, said on the phone.\u00a0 “Bears are waving the white flag, they were caught completely off-guard by this.”<\/p>\n Investors looking for clarity on what the latest renewal of the conflict means for travel demand and input prices for airlines won’t have to wait long: Delta Airlines<\/a> reports earnings before the opening bell on Friday.<\/p>\n The stock’s up 25% year-to-date, almost triple the return of the S&P 500, as carriers cite warm weather and strong consumer demand. Options traders expect a 6% swing in Delta shares after earnings, compared to a median 4% realized move over the past year.<\/p>\n Put-buying more than tripled call-buying in DAL options Wednesday, and call-selling was the most popular directional trade.<\/p>\n Still, there were notable contrarians in the flows: the biggest dollar-amount trade of the day was actually a call-buyer who spent almost $800,00 scooping up 800 of the 90-strike calls expiring in January next year, contracts that need an 11% rally to pay off.<\/p>\n![\"hide](\"https:\/\/static-redesign.cnbcfm.com\/dist\/a54b41835a8b60db28c2.svg\")
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