Meta Fell On A $1.4 Trillion Trial. I Sold More Puts Into It
Mathematical Money | August 23, 2026 Meta has had a rough fortnight. A federal trial got underway in California over claims tied to Facebook and Instagram, with damages talked about in the region of $1.4 trillion. Add the Q2 spending profile — the AI capex number spooked plenty of people — and the stock did what stocks do when the headline has "trillion" and "trial" in the same sentence. It fell to $568.97 on the 17th, then $546.01 by Thursday, and closed Friday at $549.90. That's about 30% off its 52-week high. If you're holding Meta, that's not a fun chart to open. I get it. I bought more. What I actually did I'd been running a put ratio on Meta. Long 4 puts at $560, short 8 at $550. The long puts are protection — they cover me between the strikes if it drops. Then it dropped, and those