Market Overview

As of last Friday's close, the Dow Jones Index rose by 0.61% to 47,716.42 points; the Nasdaq Index increased by 0.65% to 23,365.69 points; and the S&P 500 Index gained 0.54% to 6,849.09 points.

On the news front, New York Fed President Williams took a dovish stance, causing the market's expectation for a December rate cut to rise from about 30% to 50%. Subsequently, "Powell's allies" voiced support for a rate cut, significantly increasing market expectations for a December Fed rate cut to 80%.

Notably, the trading volume for S&P 500 index(SPX.US) put options was 950,100 contracts, while call options were 936,800 contracts, resulting in a put/call ratio of approximately 1.01, indicating a strong bearish sentiment among investors. Among these, a specific put option, SPXW 011225 P 6810, had a trading volume of 42,400 contracts, with a VOL/OI ratio of 158.07. The strike price for this contract is USD 6,810.00, and the option saw a decline of 70.93%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Last Friday, the stock fell by 1.81%, with a total options trading volume of 2.31 million contracts, a decrease of 536,300 from the previous day, down 0.19 times day-over-day. Put options accounted for 39% of the total volume, while call options made up 61%, with an open interest of 21.15 million contracts.

On the news front, Google's introduction of the new AI model Gemini and its self-developed TPU chip has created competitive pressure on NVIDIA. Additionally, "Big Short" investor Michael Burry and others have warned of a potential AI bubble burst, heightening market anxiety.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Last Friday, the stock rose by 0.84%, with a total options trading volume of 1.84 million contracts, a decrease of 393,100 from the previous day, down 0.18 times day-over-day. The open interest was 7.96 million contracts.

Intel Corporation(INTC.US): Last Friday, the stock surged by 10.19%, with a total options trading volume of 880,000 contracts, an increase of 561,000 from the previous day, up 1.75 times day-over-day. Put options accounted for 25% of the total volume, while call options made up 75%, with an open interest of 6.35 million contracts.

PUT/CALL: Counts the percentage of open put and call option holdings for the listed stocks during the trading day.

Options Activity Tracking:

Newmont Mining Corporation(NEM.US): Last Friday, the stock rose by 0.23% to USD 90.73. A call option (NEM 210128 C 140) with a strike price of USD 140.0, expiring on January 21, 2028, traded 10,300 contracts, with the option declining by 0.6%.

The Vol/OI ratio for this call option was a high 71.63, indicating a large influx of capital betting on a strong bull market for Newmont over the next three years through deep out-of-the-money options.

On the news front, Deutsche Bank raised its gold price forecast for next year, expecting significant increases. Additionally, there is a broad market expectation that the Federal Reserve will cut rates in December, which typically supports gold prices. Furthermore, Wall Street investment firm 22V Research highlighted that gold mining stocks can serve as a "leveraged tool" for gold investment, with gold price rebounds being a significant positive for these stocks.

Rivian(RIVN.US): Last Friday, the stock rose by 4.2% to USD 16.86. A put option (RIVN 051225 P 16.5) with a strike price of USD 16.5, expiring on December 5, 2025, traded 20,900 contracts, with the option declining by 51.43%.

vol/oi: The ratio of options volume to the number of open positions in the contract, with higher vol/oi indicating that the market is creating an abnormal number of new positions.

Read More: A quick look at the pros and cons of index options!