Whale Moves | SPY Puts and VIX Calls Surge, Indicating Bearish and Volatility Expectations

Top 20 Stocks with Most Traded Options

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) saw a +1.56% increase with an option volume of 4.92M and open interest of 15.42M. In particular, open interest for $580 puts expiring March 21, 2025, increased by 16.95K, $561 puts by 14.65K, and $570 puts by 10.09K, indicating significant bearish sentiment in the near term.

NVIDIA (NVDA) gained +3.97% with an option volume of 3.59M and an open interest of 20.92M, reflecting strong investor interest.

Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) moved up by +1.58% with option volume of 2.53M and open interest of 7.02M.

Tesla (TSLA) rose +3.91% with an option volume of 1.71M and open interest of 7.05M.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) increased by +1.06% with option volume of 1.30M and open interest of 9.99M.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) experienced a +1.23% rise, with option volume at 751.75K and open interest of 5.65M.

Palantir (PLTR) showed a modest +0.18% increase with option volume of 642.50K and open interest of 3.17M.

Amazon (AMZN) was up by +1.70% with option volume of 550.53K and open interest of 3.47M.

iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) climbed +1.16% with option volume of 526.37K and open interest of 2.34M.

Apple (AAPL) posted a +1.91% gain with option volume of 487.05K and open interest of 4.33M.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) increased slightly by +0.35% with option volume of 464.07K and open interest of 3.54M.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) declined by -3.47%, presenting a contrasting trend against most options, with volume reaching 463.12K and open interest of 3.00M.

Strategy (MSTR) experienced a significant increase of +6.41%, displaying strong market momentum, with an option volume of 396.83K and open interest of 1.79M.

Intel (INTC) rose by +2.77%, with an option volume of 348.32K and open interest of 5.59M.

Alphabet-A (GOOGL) saw a fractional increase of +1.06%, with an option volume of 338.09K and open interest of 2.67M.

Alibaba (BABA) dropped by -2.96%, with option volume of 302.46K and open interest of 2.72M, signaling potential bearish sentiment.

Bank of America (BAC) surged by +4.49% with option volume of 299.50K and open interest of 2.37M.

Microsoft (MSFT) increased by +1.14%, with an option volume of 294.81K and open interest of 2.08M.

ProShares UltraPro QQQ ETF (TQQQ) saw a robust rise of +4.58%, with option volume of 274.45K and open interest of 699.88K.

KraneShares CSI China Internet ETF (KWEB) fell by -2.30%, with option volume of 259.33K and open interest of 2.82M.

Other Notable Moves

The VIX saw significant open interest increases: calls for $22, $25, and $21 expiring April 16, 2025, increased by 65.00K, 58.23K, and 40.44K respectively. Meanwhile, calls for $60, $55, $75, $65, and $70 expiring May 21, 2025, saw increases ranging from 54.78K to 48.75K, indicating heightened expectations for volatility in the medium term.