Market Overview

As of the market close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average(DJI.US) fell by 0.21% to 42,051.06 points. The NASDAQ(IXIC.US) rose by 0.72% to 19,146.81 points, while the S&P 500 index(SPX.US) increased by 0.1% to 5,892.58 points.

Notably, the trading volume for VIX put options reached 234,000 contracts, while call options saw a volume of 588,800 contracts, resulting in a put/call ratio of approximately 0.40. This indicates a strong bullish sentiment among investors for the index. Among these, the VIX call option VIX 191125 C 47.5 had a trading volume of 80,000 contracts, with a VOL/OI ratio of 132.45. The strike price for this contract is $47.50, and it experienced a decline of 3.26%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Overnight, shares rose by 4.16%. The total daily options volume reached 4.67 million contracts, a decrease of 1.262 million contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.21-fold decrease. Open interest stands at 23.28 million contracts. 

CEO Jensen Huang announced a major partnership: NVIDIA will sell over 18,000 of its latest GB300 AI chips to HUMAIN, a newly established AI company under Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund (PIF).

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Overnight, shares increased by 4.07%. The total daily options volume was 3.05 million contracts, down by 140,000 contracts from the previous day, marking a 0.04-fold decrease. Open interest totals 8.86 million contracts. 

In April, Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory exported nearly 30,000 Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, achieving the highest monthly export volume in a year.

Super Micro Computer, Inc.(SMCI.US): Overnight, shares surged by 15.71%. The daily options volume reached 1.43 million contracts, an increase of 468,600 contracts from the previous day, showing a 0.48-fold increase. Open interest is at 2.81 million contracts. 

The server manufacturer announced a $20 billion deal with Saudi Arabia's DataVolt on Tuesday evening.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Overnight, shares rose by 4.68%. The daily options volume was 1.34 million contracts, up by 619,700 from the previous day, indicating a 0.86-fold increase. Open interest stands at 4.01 million contracts. 

The company announced that its board has approved a $6 billion stock repurchase plan, following a previous authorization for $4 billion.

Alphabet Inc. Class A(GOOGL.US): Overnight, shares increased by 3.66%. The daily options volume reached 820,000 contracts, an increase of 398,400 contracts from the previous day, representing a 0.93-fold increase. Open interest totals 3.56 million contracts.

Palantir Technologies(PLTR.US): Overnight, shares rose by 1.62%. The daily options volume was 800,000 contracts, a decrease of 789,100 from the previous day, which was a 0.5-fold decrease. Open interest is at 3.83 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:

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Shares rose by 4.68% overnight with significant options activity. 

The AMD 160525 P 117 put option, expiring on May 16, 2025, with a strike price of $117.0, saw a volume of 23,900 contracts and fell by 65.98%.

The AMD 160525 C 128 call option, expiring on the same date with a strike price of $128.0, traded 11,500 contracts and surged by 400.0%.

The AMD 160525 P 118 put option, also expiring on May 16, 2025, with a strike price of $118.0, had a volume of 16,600 contracts and declined by 61.75%.

TJX Companies, Inc.(TJX.US): Shares increased by 0.33% overnight. The TJX_250516_C_133.0 call option, with a strike price of $133.0 and expiring on May 16, 2025, saw a volume of 19,800 contracts and fell by 32.14%.

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Shares rose by 4.07% overnight. The TSLA_250516_P_347.5 put option, expiring on May 16, 2025, with a strike price of $347.5, had a volume of 24,300 contracts and decreased by 54.87%.

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:

Pony AI Inc.(PONY.US) experienced active options trading, with a total volume of 19,200 contracts. Put options accounted for 50.1% of the total, while call options made up 49.9%. The implied volatility was 180%.

There are reports that the company plans to confidentially apply for a Hong Kong listing, to which Pony.ai responded with "no comment." Meanwhile, the founder announced an extension of the lock-up period by 540 days, and CEO Peng Jun stated that the company is at a critical stage of scaling up Robotaxi production.

High IV stocks:

Data source: Barchart, as of May 14, 2025, Eastern Time.

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 price 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