Options Market Statistics: Tesla's Rollercoaster Week Ends with Friday Sell-Off; Options Pop

$NVIDIA Corp(NVDA)$   shares surged by 3.08% to $134.70 on Friday, with significant trading activity centered around call options at the $135 strike price expiring on December 20. 

The rally in semiconductor stocks, including NVIDIA, was spurred by easing inflation worries following a moderation in the PCE index. According to Morgan Stanley, long-term prospects for NVIDIA remain robust despite short-term anxieties about the slowdown in prior-generation Hopper builds. These concerns are expected to diminish with the introduction of the new Blackwell chips, which are anticipated to enhance the company's competitive edge by 2025. Furthermore, NVIDIA is projected to maintain substantial growth potential, driven by key sectors such as inference, sovereign training, and enterprise training applications, which contribute significantly to its data center revenue, notwithstanding potential cooling in the artificial general intelligence race.

$Tesla Motors(TSLA)$  's stock opened higher this week but experienced a downward trajectory, closing on Friday with a 3.5% decline at $421.06. There was notable trading activity focused on call options with a $440 strike price set to expire on December 20.

On Thursday, Tesla's stock experienced a 0.9% decline following Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul's suggestion that Elon Musk could be a candidate for Speaker of the House, potentially increasing the demands on Musk's time. However, the market seemed to largely dismiss this possibility, with Tesla shareholder Gary Black noting that the stock was "wildly overbought" and hedge funds may have seized the opportunity for profit-taking. The term "overbought" indicates that the stock has risen rapidly, potentially reflecting a saturation of positive news without enough buyers to drive prices further.

Adding to investor concerns, Musk's growing engagement in Washington's political sphere, marked by his recent tweets on government spending and the shutdown, could be unsettling. Additionally, Tesla faced a challenge with its European EV sales, which fell by nearly 30% year-over-year in November, highlighting the need for strong December sales in China and the U.S. to meet its Q4 target of approximately 515,000 vehicles, against Wall Street's forecast of 503,000. Despite these concerns, Tesla's stock fluctuations on Friday may simply reflect natural market behavior, as it has climbed about 76% this year.

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