Market Overview
The S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended at record closing highs on Wednesday (Dec. 24), while gold held just below the $4,500 mark by the conclusion of a light-volume, truncated Christmas Eve session.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 27,842,425 contracts was traded, down 35% from the previous trading day.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: TSLA, NVDA, MSTR, AAPL, NKE, NFLX, MU, PM, AMZN, INTC
Source: Tiger Trade App
Nike shares gained 4.6% on Wednesday. Apple chief Tim Cook bought shares worth about $3 million in Nike, a move that nearly doubled his personal stake in the sportswear maker and signaled confidence in the turnaround strategy laid out by CEO Elliott Hill.
There are 493.06K Nike option contracts traded on Wednesday, up 158% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 51% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $60 strike call option expiring December 26, with 37,351 contracts trading. NKE 20251226 60.0 CALL
Unusual Options Activity
Source: Market Chameleon
Intel shares fell 0.5% on Wednesday after reports that Nvidia abandoned plans to use Intel’s 18A chip production process.
There are 250.53K Intel option contracts traded on Wednesday, up 5% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 53% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $35 strike put option expiring January 16, 2016, with 13,571 contracts trading. INTC 20260116 35.0 PUT
Philip Morris will trade ex-dividend for its upcoming dividends on 12/26/25. Philip Morris International Inc will pay its quarterly dividend of $1.47 on 1/14/26.
There are 266.71K Philip Morris option contracts traded on Wednesday, up 3137% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 100% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $130 strike put option expiring January 16, 2016, with 54,228 contracts trading. PM 20260116 130.0 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.
Based on option delta volume, traders bought a net equivalent of 755,638 shares of Intel stock. The largest bullish delta came from selling puts. The largest delta volume came from the 16-Jan-26 35 Put, with traders getting long 285,858 deltas on the single option contract.
Top 10 bullish stocks: INTC, MSFT, NKE, COST, C, BAC, MRK, JPM, BA, MU
Top 10 bearish stocks: NFLX, HD, TSLA, GOOGL, ORCL, AMD, COIN, AMZN, ADP; PFE
Source: Market Chameleon
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