Newmont Mining (NEM) lifted as gold rises above $900 again

Newmont Mining (NYSE: NEM) shares are trading higher today as gold futures prices have risen to break above $900 per ounce once more. If you think that the stock won't fall by too much in the coming months, then now could be a good time to look at a bullish hedged trade on NEM.

After hitting a one-year low of $38.01 in August, the stock hit a one-year high of $57.55 in January. NEM opened this morning at $48.35. So far today the stock has hit a low of $47.95 and a high of $49.31. As of 12:30, NEM is trading at $49.28, up $0.96 (2.0%). The chart for NEM looks bullish and steady, while S&P gives the stock a positive 4 STARS (out of 5) buy rating.

For a bullish hedged play on this stock, I would consider a July bull-put credit spread below the $42.50 range. A bull-put credit spread is an options position that combines the purchase and sale of put options to hedge risk in case the stock doesn't do what you think but still leverage nice returns. This particular trade will make an 8.7% return in just six weeks as long as NEM is above $42.50 at July expiration. Newmont would have to fall by more than 13% before we would start to lose money.

NEM hasn't been below that level since August and has shown support around $46 recently. This trade could be risky if the price of gold futures drops in the next few months, but even if that happens, this position could be protected by the support the stock might find at its 200 day moving average, which is currently around $47.

Brent Archer is an options analyst and writer at Investors Observer. At publication time, Brent neither owns nor controls positions in NEM.