Whale Moves | VIX Call Open Interest Jumps; QQQ and HYG Put Positions Signal Bearish Sentiment

Top 20 Stocks with Most Traded Options

Tesla (TSLA) experienced a significant drop of 6.34%, with an option volume of 3.14M and open interest at 6.72M.

NVIDIA (NVDA) saw a slight decline of 0.58%, with 2.43M options traded and open interest at 24.10M.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY) edged up by 0.08%, with a trading volume of 2.42M options and open interest at 16.59M.

Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ) recorded a minor decline of 0.24%, with 1.29M options traded and open interest at 7.04M. The $520 put expiring February 21, 2025, saw an open interest increase of 4.43K contracts, indicating potential bearish sentiment.

Apple (AAPL) climbed 2.18%, with an option volume of 1.05M and open interest at 4.51M.

Intel (INTC) surged by 6.07%, with 1.03M options traded and open interest at 4.95M.

Super Micro Computer (SMCI) fell sharply by 9.47%, with a trading volume of 954.28K options and open interest at 3.29M.

Palantir (PLTR) dropped 3.45%, with 853.87K options traded and open interest at 3.55M.

iShares Russell 2000 ETF (IWM) slipped by 0.58%, with an option volume of 698.57K and open interest at 9.96M.

Alibaba (BABA) rose by 1.31%, with a trading volume of 687.01K options and open interest at 2.59M.

Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) increased by 0.56%, with 443.79K options traded and open interest at 3.90M.

Meta Platforms (META) saw a modest rise of 0.33%, with an option volume of 379.99K and open interest at 1.96M.

Strategy (MSTR) declined by 4.53%, with 378.63K options traded and open interest at 2.13M.

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) decreased by 0.64%, with an option volume of 376.98K and open interest at 5.56M.

iShares Bitcoin Trust (IBIT) dropped 2.29%, with 334.03K options traded and open interest at 2.46M.

Shopify (SHOP) rose impressively by 3.08%, with a trading volume of 319.48K options and open interest at 595.11K.

Amazon (AMZN) saw a slight decline of 0.16%, with 302.80K options traded and open interest at 3.57M.

Alphabet-A (GOOGL) fell by 0.62%, with an option volume of 291.62K and open interest at 2.66M.

Lyft Inc (LYFT) dropped significantly by 4.83%, with a trading volume of 281.74K options and open interest at 637.01K.

iShares Silver Trust (SLV) decreased by 0.68%, with an option volume of 252.90K and open interest at 5.95M.

Other Notable Moves

VIX options saw significant activity, particularly the $30 call expiring May 21, 2025, which experienced an open interest increase of 20.33K contracts, and the $35 call expiring March 18, 2025, with an increase of 18.75K contracts. This suggests a rising interest in volatility hedging strategies.

HYG's $77 put expiring May 16, 2025, saw open interest increase by 6.95K contracts, indicating a potential increase in bearish sentiment or protection in the high-yield bond market.