Option Movers | Intel Shows Highest Bullish Sentiment; VIX's Volume Surges 204%
Market Overview
All three major Wall Street indexes ended Tuesday (Jan. 20) with their biggest one-day drops in three months, in a broad selloff triggered by concerns that fresh tariff threats from President Donald Trump against Europe could signal renewed market volatility.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 58,281,598 contracts was traded, down 17% from the previous trading day.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: $VIX(VIX)$, $NVDA(NVDA)$, $TSLA(TSLA)$, $AAPL(AAPL)$, $NFLX(NFLX)$, $INTC(INTC)$, $AMD(AMD)$, $AMZN(AMZN)$, $MU(MU)$, $PLTR(PLTR)$
Source: Tiger Trade App
The $Cboe Volatility Index(VIX)$ (VIX), also known as Wall Street's fear gauge, spiked to 20.09 points, its highest close since November 24 as the Greenland issue continues to intensify.
There are 2.11 million VIX option contracts traded on Tuesday, up 204% from the previous trading day. Particularly high volume was seen for the $20 strike call option expiring January 21, with 177,663 contracts trading. VIX 20260121 20.0 CALL
$Intel(INTC)$ shares rose 3.4% against the trend on Tuesday. Seaport upgraded Intel to Buy from Neutral and set a $65 price target, citing improving momentum in Intel’s core products and a better near-term outlook for Intel Foundry.
There are 634.53K Intel option contracts traded on Tuesday, down 5% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 68% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $55 strike call option expiring March 20, with 34,976 contracts trading. INTC 20260320 55.0 CALL
Unusual Options Activity
Source: Market Chameleon
$Netflix(NFLX)$ beat Wall Street's revenue and earnings estimates for its holiday quarter on Tuesday but its shares tumbled more than 5% in after-hours trading, as the streaming giant remains locked in a fierce bidding war for Warner Bros Discovery. The company reported results hours after amending its $82.7 billion merger agreement with Warner Bros, as it seeks to fend off a hostile bid from Paramount Skydance.
Traders made a bet before Netflix's financial report. There are 940.58K option contracts traded on Tuesday, up 93% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 68% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $100 strike call option expiring January 23, with 71,050 contracts trading. NFLX 20260123 100.0 CALL
The risk-off trade was pervasive, helping vault gold to fresh record highs, and pushing up debt costs with U.S. Treasuries wobbling under renewed selling pressure. $SPDR Gold ETF(GLD)$ (GLD) gained 3.8% on Tuesday.
There are 1.57 million SPDR Gold ETF option contracts traded on Tuesday, up 29% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 81% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $440 strike call option expiring January 30, with 248,275 contracts trading. GLD 20260130 440.0 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 948,392 shares of $Intel(INTC)$ stock. The largest bullish delta came from buying calls. The largest delta volume came from the 20-Feb-26 47 Put, with traders getting long 294,540 deltas on the single option contract.
Top 10 bullish stocks: $INTC(INTC)$, $JNJ(JNJ)$, $NEM(NEM)$, $MU(MU)$, $NOW(NOW)$, $BA(BA)$, $BSX(BSX)$, $FCX(FCX)$, $PANW(PANW)$, $UNH(UNH)$
Top 10 bearish stocks: $AAPL(AAPL)$, $NVDA(NVDA)$, $KHC(KHC)$, $COIN(COIN)$, $CSCO(CSCO)$, $UBER(UBER)$, $WBD(WBD)$, $TTD(TTD)$, $AVGO(AVGO)$; $CMG(CMG)$
Source: Market Chameleon
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$(VIX)$ $(INTC)$ $(NFLX)$ $(GLD)$Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.
