Market Overview
The technology-heavy Nasdaq composite closed lower on Monday (Oct 12 ) as oil prices jumped nearly $2 a barrel after attacks on a Saudi airport, and investors waited for banks to kick off the third-quarter earnings season and for economic data this week.
The S&P 500 ended the session barely lower while the Dow advanced.
Regarding the options market, a total volume of 48,472,850 contracts was traded, of which 57% were call options.
Top 10 Option Volumes
Top 10: NVDA, TSLA, MU, AAPL, SPCX, INTC, AMZN, GME, MSTR, SKHY
Source: Tiger Trade APP
Micron: closed at $989.04, slipping 3.88% after retreating from an intraday high of $1,002.67.
Large options trades in Micron showed a defensive tilt alongside cautious bullish positioning. The most significant transaction was an $889,000 put buy at the 800.00 strike expiring November 2026, indicating hedging against a meaningful downside move. A $396,000 call buy at the 1025.00 strike expiring October 2026 reflected tactical upside speculation. Overall bullish premium narrowly exceeded bearish premium, suggesting traders remain guarded even while maintaining some upside exposure.
A PUT buy worth $889,000 targeted the 800.00 strike expiring on 2026-11-20, making it the largest displayed large trade and a clearly bearish position. With MU referenced at 989.04, this put was out of the money at execution, indicating the buyer was positioning for downside protection or a sizable bearish move rather than locking in intrinsic value. The trade suggests a willingness to pay premium for longer-dated downside exposure, which is typically consistent with hedging against a material pullback or expressing a cautious medium-term view.
Source: Tiger Trade APP
A CALL buy worth $396,000 targeted the 1025.00 strike expiring on 2026-10-14, representing a bullish but more tactical upside bet. Since the strike sat above the 989.04 reference price, this call was also out of the money, so the buyer was looking for further upside acceleration before expiration. The trade reflects speculative bullish positioning with defined risk, likely expressing confidence that MU can extend higher enough to push through the strike and create meaningful leverage on the upside. Overall, the large-trade flow leans slightly bullish, as bullish premium narrowly exceeded bearish premium, and the order mix shows traders still willing to pay for upside exposure even as some participants simultaneously bought downside protection, pointing to a cautiously constructive sentiment rather than an outright aggressive bullish stance.
Source: Tiger Trade APP
Unusual Options Activity
Intel: shares closed at $101.35, down 3.20%.
Intel’s options market saw heavy block activity dominated by premium-selling structures. The largest trades were a $9.23 million short strangle at the $140 strike and a $3.13 million hedged short strangle combining short $110 calls and short $90 puts with long $82.50 puts. Both trades collected net credit, indicating traders are selling volatility and capping upside rather than positioning for an immediate bullish breakout, with overall order flow leaning bearish and cautious.
A $9.23 million net-credit combination was the day’s largest block, and it is best read as a short strangle rather than a synthetic structure because it involved selling both sides of the option chain: 1,400 Jan. 21, 2028 $140.00 puts and 1,400 Jan. 21, 2028 $140.00 calls. With INTC referenced at $101.35, the short call was out of the money while the short put was in the money, creating a premium-collection position centered on the $140.00 strike. The trade brought in a net credit of $9.23 million and suggests the trader was willing to take on substantial volatility and assignment risk, likely expressing a view that the long-dated pricing was rich or that the stock will ultimately migrate toward a more favorable level over time rather than make an extreme move beyond the risk tolerance embedded in the structure.
Source: Tiger Trade APP
A $3.13 million net-credit three-leg cross-expiration combination was the second-largest trade, combining the sale of 1,500 Jun. 17, 2027 $110.00 calls, the sale of 1,500 Jun. 17, 2027 $90.00 puts, and the purchase of 2,000 Mar. 19, 2027 $82.50 puts. This is best characterized as a net-credit, risk-defined volatility and range-expression structure: the short $110.00 call and short $90.00 put form a short strangle around the current stock price, while the long $82.50 put adds downside hedging through an earlier expiration. With the $110.00 call and both puts out of the money versus the $101.35 reference price, the strategy appears designed to collect premium while maintaining some protection against a sharper selloff, indicating a moderately constructive-to-neutral stance rather than outright bullish aggression. Overall, the bulk-order flow leans bearish for INTC, as downside-oriented activity slightly outweighed bullish flow and the largest trades were dominated by premium-selling structures that cap upside and tolerate or hedge downside selectively, pointing to a market that appears cautious, volatility-aware, and not positioned for an immediate strong upside breakout.
Source: Tiger Trade APP