Whale Moves | IWM $215 Put and $235 Call Surge with VIX Calls Indicating Volatility Expectations

【Top 20 Stocks with Most Traded Options】

NVIDIA (NVDA) saw a stock increase of 2.87% with an option volume of 3.53 million and open interest of 23.72 million. No significant changes in open interest were noted within the top increases list for NVIDIA.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) recorded a 0.68% rise, with option volume at 3.00 million and open interest at 16.08 million.

Tesla (TSLA) experienced a 3.01% drop, with an option volume of 1.84 million and open interest at 6.43 million.

Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) rose by 1.21%, with option volume hitting 1.42 million and open interest at 6.87 million.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) saw a significant stock increase of 17.56%, with option volume reaching 1.21 million and open interest at 2.98 million.

Palantir (PLTR) observed a 5.23% stock rise, with option volume of 883.10K and open interest of 3.37 million.

Alibaba (BABA) gained 7.55% with an option volume of 583.10K and open interest at 2.49 million.

Apple (AAPL) had a minor increase of 0.12%, with option volume at 553.37K and open interest at 4.43 million.

Uber Technologies (UBER) saw a 5.40% rise, with option volume at 526.38K and open interest at 1.82 million.

Amazon (AMZN) rose by 1.74% with an option volume of 488.81K and open interest of 3.49 million.

SPDR Gold ETF (GLD) increased by 1.69%, with option volume at 484.08K and open interest at 2.97 million.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) experienced a 2.71% stock increase, with option volume at 483.40K and open interest at 3.82 million.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) moved up by 0.45%, recording an option volume of 406.55K and open interest at 9.89 million. Notably, the $215 put expiring March 21, 2025, saw open interest increase by 61.56K, and the $235 call expiring March 21, 2025, increased by 49.22K. Additionally, there were several put options with open interest increases, suggesting potential hedging or bearish sentiment.

Intel (INTC) stock rose by 3.51%, with option volume at 373.43K and open interest at 4.84 million.

Meta Platforms (META) observed a 0.40% increase, with option volume at 326.98K and open interest at 1.89 million.

Alphabet-A (GOOGL) gained 0.61%, with option volume at 312.82K and open interest at 2.58 million.

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) saw a 0.59% rise, with option volume at 301.59K and open interest at 5.87 million.

BigBear.ai Holdings (BBAI) increased by 1.51%, with option volume at 279.66K and open interest at 710.70K.

GameStop (GME) rose significantly by 9.66%, with option volume at 275.99K and open interest at 723.89K.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) experienced a slight decrease of 0.30%, with option volume at 270.45K and open interest at 5.49 million.

【Other Notable Moves】

VIX options saw notable increases in open interest across several strikes. The $23.50 call expiring February 19, 2025, increased by 23.18K, while the $26.00 call expiring March 18, 2025, saw an increase of 21.52K. The $35.00 call expiring April 16, 2025, increased by 20.56K, indicating heightened expectations of volatility. Additionally, the $17.00 put and $18.00 call expiring April 16, 2025, witnessed increases of 20.01K and 19.76K, respectively, reflecting mixed sentiment.

HYG options also recorded significant open interest changes, with the $80.00 call expiring February 21, 2025, increasing by 16.22K, suggesting a bullish stance on high-yield corporate bonds.