Market Overview
Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Monday (Dec. 9), driven by a drop in AI leader Nvidia that weighed on tech stocks, as investors looked ahead to a crucial inflation report set for later this week.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 50,368,409 contracts was traded, up 7% from the previous trading day.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: NVDA, TSLA, PLTR, AAPL, AMD, AMZN, SMCI, BABA, NIO, RIVN
Source: Tiger Trade App
Nvidia stock dropped 2.6% on Monday after China's market regulator launched an investigation into the AI chipmaker over suspected violations of the country's anti-monopoly law.
There are 3.02 million Nvidia option contracts traded on Monday, down 30% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 63% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $145 strike call option expiring December 13, with 162,334 contracts trading. The next is the $138 strike put option expiring December 13, with 120,400 contracts trading. NVDA 20241213 145.0 CALL, NVDA 20241213 145.0 PUT
AMD shares fell 5.6% on Monday after Bank of America downgraded the stock and lowered its price target, warning of downside risks for the chipmaker in 2025. The bank downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy,” and cut its price target to $155 from $180.
There are 3.02 million Nvidia option contracts traded on Monday, up 25% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 68% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $130 strike put option expiring December 13, with 25,854 contracts trading. AMD 20241213 130.0 PUT
Unusual Options Activity
Source: Market Chameleon
Palantir announced an expansion of its contract with the U.S. Special Operations Command. Palantir shares dropped 5.1% on Monday after hitting their latest all-time high earlier in the session.
There are 1.25 million Palantir option contracts traded on Monday, down 10% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 56% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $80 strike call option expiring December 13, with 54,819 contracts trading. PLTR 20241213 80.0 CALL
Traders who scooped up millions of shares worth of bullish options over the past week in tiny, levered exchange-traded funds tracking Chinese indexes are up more than $130 million on paper as shares surged after top leaders in Beijing signaled stronger economic support next year.
The options buying was centered on two ETFs — Direxion Daily FTSE China Bull 3X Shares (ticker YINN) and Direxion Daily CSI 300 China A Share Bull 2X Shares (ticker CHAU). Their combined market capitalization of around $2.5 billion lags larger funds like iShares China Large-Cap ETF (ticker FXI), which has almost $8 billion.
Starting Nov. 29 and continuing through last week, a trader or traders snapped up almost 180,000 of the January 2026 $27 calls in YINN for an average price of around $9.35 each. And on Dec. 2, about 210,000 of the May $15 calls in CHAU were bought for about $2.64 each.
Together, that’s about $225 million in premium, though likely the actual outlay was less using margin. With the contracts worth $15.50 and $3.80, respectively, as of Monday, the buyers have about a $135 million paper gain.
Also Read: A trader placed US$200M bet on China assets and made a profit of US$100M overnight
There are 171.6K YINN option contracts traded on Monday, up 107% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 87% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $50 strike call option expiring December 20, with 33,433 contracts trading. YINN 20241220 50.0 CALL
There are 23.02K CHAU option contracts traded on Monday, up 350% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 96% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $15 strike call option expiring May 16, 2025, with 5,159 contracts trading. CHAU 20250516 15.0 CALL
Chinese ADRs also jumped on Monday. Alibaba jumped 7.4%; PDD Holdings surged 10.5%; NIO soared 12.4%.
There are 633.15K Alibaba option contracts traded on Monday, up 277% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 78% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $100 strike call option expiring December 20, with 36,001 contracts trading. BABA 20241220 100.0 CALL
There are 308.06K PDD Holdings option contracts traded on Monday, up 452% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 83% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $150 strike call option expiring February 21, 2025, with 16,087 contracts trading. PDD 20250221 150.0 CALL
There are 572.12K NIO option contracts traded on Monday, up 412% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 80% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $10 strike call option expiring May 16, 2025, with 40,839 contracts trading. NIO 20250516 10.0 CALL
Top 10 S&P 500 Bullish & Bearish
This report shows stocks with the highest volume of bullish and bearish activity by option delta volume, which converts option volume to an equivalent stock volume (bought or sold).
If we take the total positive option delta volume and subtract the total negative option delta volume, we will get the net imbalance. If the net imbalance is positive, there is more bullish pressure. If the net is negative, there is more bearish pressure.
Top 10 bullish stocks: PPL, PEG, INTC, WBA, SMCI, WMB, LVS, HPQ, BAC, LULU
Top 10 bearish stocks: AMZN, TSLA, AMD, PLTR, GOOGL, FOXA, WBD, F, HSY; IPG
Source: Market Chameleon
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