To The Moon

The Federal Reserve maintained interest rates unchanged on Wednesday (November 1), although pointing out that the economy is strong and does not rule out further interest rate hikes in the future, Chairman Powell's post-meeting speech still brought a boost to the market, that perhaps the Fed has finished raising interest rates, the three major indexes of US stocks collectively closed higher, and US bond interest rates fell.

At the end of a two-day meeting, the Fed left its target range of interest rates unchanged at 5.25% to 5.50%, as expected. The latest statement also changed its description of third-quarter growth to "strong expansion" from "solid expansion" in September, reflecting better economic data since then.

While the central bank is not so confident that financial conditions are tight enough to bring inflation back to the levels the central bank wants, Powell said policymakers will proceed cautiously.

At the same time, the Fed signaled that rising interest rates on long-term bonds had reduced the incentive to raise rates again. The market view is that the sharp rise in long-term interest rates will actually help the Fed complete its policy tightening and get inflation back to its 2 percent target.

Earlier in the session, the U.S. Treasury announced it would issue $112 billion of debt in its quarterly refinancing operation next week, up $9 billion from the previous quarter but below market expectations, prompting a surge in Treasury prices and a drop in the 10-year Treasury rate to its lowest level in more than two weeks.

Investors also digested other economic data released earlier in the day. The U.S. economy added 113,000 jobs in October, up from September but below market expectations. The ISM manufacturing index fell more than expected to 46.7 in October.

FANNG option active

Apple saw very low strike put option buy orders $AAPL 20231103 137.0 PUT$

Google saw sell put orders with strike prices for ITM options $GOOG 20231103 135.0 PUT$ $GOOG 20231110 142.0 PUT$

Apple is due to report earnings after the closing bell on Thursday. Options orders show a negative bias in institutional sentiment.

Option buyer open position (Single leg)

Buy TOP T/O:

$CVX 20231103 155.0 PUT$ $LCID 20250117 3.0 PUT$

Buy TOP Vol:

$LCID 20250117 3.0 PUT$ $NKLA 20260116 1.0 PUT$

Note: This image data is from Tiger PC. This screening is a significant buy open position for options contracts in the market. The purchase of a call option means that the trader believes that the underlying has upward momentum, and the purchase of a put option means that the trader believes that the underlying has downward momentum. These contract openings typically indicate significant activity in the underlying stock, including whether the trader is willing to accumulate a long or short option position.

Option seller open position (Single leg)

Sell TOP T/O:

$GNRC 20250117 100.0 PUT$ $EL 20240816 115.0 PUT$

Sell TOP Vol:

$IQ 20240621 5.5 CALL$ $REI 20240621 3.0 CALL$

Note: This image data is from Tiger PC. This screen is a significant sell open position for an option contract in the market. A sell of a call option means that the trader believes that the underlying trend has peaked, and a sell of a put option means that the trader believes that the underlying trend has bottomed. These contract openings typically indicate significant activity in the underlying stock, including whether the trader is willing to accumulate a long or short option position.

Options portfolio open position

Note: This image data is from Tiger PC. This screening is a significant portfolio of options contracts in the market. Portfolio opening includes a variety of underlying trends, requiring traders to further master the basic knowledge of options for analysis and judgment.