What’s it like to buy $5 million worth of calls every day?
On May 24, I wrote an article titled "Why Insider Trades Prefer 2027 Expiry Options", which mentioned a mysterious bullish ARM options buyer. Since late April, this trader has consistently opened positions daily, purchasing out-of-the-money, at-the-money, and far-dated call options expiring in June 2027. A rough estimate suggests their daily transaction value is over $5 million.
Even now, this trader continues their bullish activity. As shown in the data, there’s an unusually high open interest for the 115–155 calls expiring in 2027. These positions are almost entirely held by this trader, with a total estimated value of approximately $400 million based on daily volume.
Unlike two months ago, when the trader simply bought calls, they’ve recently started closing some in-the-money call positions and rolling into at-the-money options.
For example, on Wednesday, June 25, they closed the 115 call: $ARM 20270617 115.0 CALL$ , and purchased the 155 call: $ARM 20270617 155.0 CALL$ .
While it’s unclear why this trader chose ARM among all chip stocks for their bullish bet, ARM’s price action has indeed been very steady.
Wednesday’s short squeeze significantly boosted NVIDIA’s bullish outlook, leading to a surge in open interest for far-dated out-of-the-money calls. The situation has shifted from a short-term squeeze to a medium-term bullish sentiment.
Institutions selling calls were forced to roll their positions into next week’s 157.5 and 160 calls.
As for whether to adopt a bullish stance now, it’s worth waiting a couple more days. Based on open interest data, NVIDIA is likely to close this week between 150–155. Volatility is also expected to stabilize on Thursday and Friday.
A trader opened a bullish butterfly spread expiring July 18 with strikes at 610-620-635. This indicates continued bullish expectations for the S&P 500 to rise above 620 by mid-July.
Institutions sold calls expiring next week at 392.5, hedged at 405. Bearish positions indicate an expected pullback to around 350.
On Wednesday, TIGR surged, closing at 9.95. That day, someone sold 100,000 contracts of January 2026 calls with a strike price of 9: $TIGR 20260116 9.0 CALL$ .
Typically, selling at-the-money calls is a bearish strategy, although it’s also possible this trader is holding shares and writing covered calls.
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