After the Bounce, Shorts Step Back In
$VIX$
A large VIX call order hit Tuesday: the 28 strike $VIX 20260519 28.0 CALL$ — 119.6k contracts, $11.48M in premium. A bet of this size implies a sharp, gap-filling move lower in the broader market.
In theory, regional conflicts are winding down. The only thing Trump might be missing this time around — compared to 2025 — is that he never got to shout "buy" before the market did it on its own. But triggering a selloff just so he can make a speech? That sounds ridiculous. I'd rather believe someone else has an unknown reason to hedge with volatility.
Another less clear VIX call: the 24 strike $VIX 20260722 24.0 CALL$ . The print landed right in the bid-ask spread — hard to call direction. Mark it for now.
$INTC$
The most visible bearish setup comes from Intel puts. On Tuesday, April 14th, there was a dense cluster of 50-strike puts:
$INTC 20260522 50.0 PUT$
$INTC 20260501 50.0 PUT$
$INTC 20280121 65.0 PUT$
$INTC 20261120 50.0 PUT$
No obvious explanation. Just mark them.
On the other side, bullish flows remain aggressive. A large 70-strike call $INTC 20260515 70.0 CALL$ opened 20k contracts.
Overall, bulls are targeting 70–80. Meanwhile, an unknown bear (or hedge) is buying 50 puts. Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if Intel hits 100 this year. But this 50-put wave is oddly timed. Could be downside hedges, but the concentrated strike clustering looks more like a genuine short.
That brings us to AMD — both are CPU names. Any bearish action there?
A large covered call: $AMD 20270115 250.0 CALL$ . Likely long stock, selling the Jan 2027 250 call. That strike is telling: at-the-money, far-dated, and quite bearish. With the stock leg, the trader seems to expect AMD to range between 200–250 this year — but not ruling out 300 on the high side.
$NVDA$
A return to previous highs is almost a given now. Recent bullish call spread: 200–225.
Buy $NVDA 20260529 200.0 CALL$
Sell $NVDA 20260529 225.0 CALL$
If buying calls feels too aggressive — especially with that VIX order looming — selling puts to chase the trend is an option. Consider the 190 strike $NVDA 20260424 190.0 PUT$ .
$AMZN$
After Amazon's sharp rally, institutions rolled a call spread for profit:
Closed June 18th 225–265, reopened May 8th 260–290.
Buy $AMZN 20260508 260.0 CALL$
Sell $AMZN 20260508 290.0 CALL$
That's how you roll a bullish spread — raise the strikes, shorten the duration.
$META$
A large sell call order: $META 20260618 690.0 CALL$ .
$NFLX$
Netflix bullish spread targeting 120–140. It's fascinating that Wall Street seems to assume AI won't impact streaming. But I think Netflix is getting closer to the AI risk list. Fine for a short-term play, but long-term holding is risky.
Buy $NFLX 20260717 120.0 CALL$
Sell $NFLX 20260717 140.0 CALL$
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