Market Overview

At the close of trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI.US) increased by 0.52%, finishing at 44,484.49 points. The NASDAQ(IXIC.US) rose by 0.75%, ending at 20,885.65 points, while the S&P 500 index(SPX.US) gained 0.54%, closing at 6,297.36 points.

Notably, the S&P 500's (SPX) put options volume reached 1.914 million contracts, compared to 1.6498 million call options, resulting in a put/call ratio of approximately 1.16. This suggests a stronger bearish sentiment among investors regarding the index. Among these, a specific put option, SPXW 060825 P 5200, saw a volume of 13,300 contracts with a VOL/OI ratio of 131.33. The strike price for this contract is 5,200.00, and it experienced a decline of 37.85%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Shares rose 0.95% overnight. The total daily options volume reached 2.92 million contracts, an increase of 738,500 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.34x increase. Open interest stands at 20.55 million contracts.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Shares fell 0.7% overnight. The total daily options volume was 1.89 million contracts, a decrease of 154,100 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.08x decrease. Open interest is at 8.46 million contracts.

Lucid(LCID.US): Shares surged 36.24% overnight. The total daily options volume reached 1.52 million contracts, an increase of 1.46 million contracts from the previous day, representing a 23.68x increase. Open interest is at 2.72 million contracts.

In related news, Uber Technologies,Inc.(UBER.US) is partnering with electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid and autonomous driving startup Nuro to launch a robotaxi fleet. Uber announced on Thursday that it will procure Lucid Gravity SUVs equipped with Nuro's autonomous driving systems for operation, with plans to roll out in a major U.S. city in the second half of 2026. Over the next six years, Uber aims to deploy at least 20,000 autonomous taxis. Uber will invest several hundred million dollars in the two partners, including $300 million to help Lucid upgrade its production lines to integrate Nuro's hardware.

Palantir(PLTR.US): Shares increased 2.04% overnight. The total daily options volume reached 1.01 million contracts, an increase of 423,300 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.72x increase. Open interest stands at 3.46 million contracts.

Mizuho Securities analyst Gregg Moskowitz noted in an investment report: "Palantir's recent business execution and growth momentum are impressive, with government and commercial sector performance exceeding our expectations. We believe Palantir is likely to achieve its fifth consecutive quarter of accelerated revenue growth when it reports Q2 earnings in early August."

OpenDoor Technologies, Inc.(OPEN.US): Shares jumped 10.74% overnight. The total daily options volume reached 900,000 contracts, an increase of 219,600 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.32x increase. Bullish options account for nearly 81%. Open interest is at 980,000 contracts.

Data shows that interest in Opendoor, measured by page views on the Stocktwits platform, surged 400% from Monday to Tuesday, with this growth rate expected to double again by Wednesday. Discussions about Opendoor have noticeably increased across multiple social media platforms.

Robinhood(HOOD.US): Shares rose 2.13% overnight. The total daily options volume was 600,000 contracts, a decrease of 131,200 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.18x decrease. Open interest stands at 2.38 million contracts.

Coinbase(COIN.US): Shares increased 3.15% overnight. The total daily options volume reached 490,000 contracts, an increase of 149,200 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.44x increase. Open interest is at 1.38 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:

Nu Holdings(NU.US): Shares rose 1.01% overnight. The put option with a strike price of $13.5, expiring on July 25, 2025 (NU 250725 P 13.5), traded 48,500 contracts and fell 31.58%.

CoreWeave(CRWV.US): Shares dropped 7.57% overnight.

• The call option with a strike price of $72.5, expiring on September 19, 2025 (CRWV 190925 C 72.5), traded 16,900 contracts and decreased by 12.29%.
• The call option with a strike price of $105.0, expiring on July 18, 2025 (CRWV 180725 C 105), traded 43,400 contracts and fell 27.66%.

Grab(GRAB.US): Shares increased 2.34% overnight. The call option with a strike price of $5.5, expiring on August 29, 2025 (GRAB 290825 C 5.5), traded 13,200 contracts and rose 45.83%.

Uranium Energy(UEC.US): Shares rose 6.95% overnight. The call option with a strike price of $10.0, expiring on August 15, 2025 (UEC 150825 C 10), traded 61,200 contracts and surged 262.5%.

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.

Option IV Unusual Movements:

BigBear.ai Holdings(BBAI.US): Shares rose over 15% overnight. Options volume reached 328,800 contracts, with implied volatility at 139.01%.

High IV stocks:

Source: Barchart, data as of Eastern Time, July 17, 2025.

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

Note: Implied volatility estimates the expected fluctuation of a stock's price and is derived from the cost of its options. High and low levels of implied volatility signify market sentiment and option supply and demand dynamics. Feeding into an option's premium, implied volatility, time value, and directional movement embody the core aspects influencing option pricing. Traders navigate their strategies within this three-dimensional framework.

Volume reflects the aggregate volume of options contracts executed in a single day.

IV Rank gauges the standing of the current implied volatility within the highest and lowest values observed over the past year, serving as a relative measure.

IV Percentile denotes the proportion of days during the past year when the implied volatility was lower than the present rate, providing a statistical norm.

IV Yearly High marks the apex of an option's implied volatility recorded within the preceding year, signaling its peak uncertainty or risk