Market Overview

March 25th news: As of the close, the Dow Jones index increased by 1.42%, closing at 42,583.32 points; the NASDAQ index increased by 2.27%, closing at 18,188.59 points; the S&P 500 index increased by 1.76%, closing at 5,767.57 points.

It is worth noting that the trading volume for put options on S&P 500 INDEX(SPX.US) was 1.868 million contracts, and the volume for call options was 1.6007 million contracts, resulting in a put/call volume ratio of approximately 1.17, indicating that investors have a stronger inclination to bet on a decline for the index. Among these, one S&P 500 INDEX(SPX.US) put option, SPXW 250325 P 5635, reached a trading volume of 4,800 contracts with a VOL/OI value recorded at 31.39. The strike price of this contract is 5,635.00 USD, and this option fell by 98.20%.

In addition, one S&P 500 INDEX(SPX.US) call option, SPXW 250325 C 5800, reached a trading volume of 13,600 contracts. The strike price of this contract is 5,800 USD, and this option surged by 1,214.29%.

Top 10 Options Trading Volume:

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 11.93%, and the total trading volume of options for the day reached 3.27 million contracts, a decrease of 395,000 contracts compared to the previous day, down by 0.11 times from the previous day. There were 7.92 million open contracts. 

According to media reports, South Korean retail investors are keen on leveraged trading in U.S. stocks, having net invested 2.2 billion USD in Tesla shares this year, making it the most popular trade so far. They also rushed to buy shares in Palantir, Nvidia and a leveraged ETF betting on U.S. semiconductor stocks. Additionally, on Monday, the FBI established a task force to investigate threats facing Tesla to look into attacks against the company.

NVIDIA Corporation(NVDA.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 3.15%, and the total trading volume of options for the day reached 2.62 million contracts, a decrease of 955,000 contracts compared to the previous day, down by 0.27 times from the previous day. There were 19.73 million open contracts.

Palantir Technologies(PLTR.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 6.37%, and the total trading volume of options for the day reached 810,000 contracts, a decrease of 30,600 contracts compared to the previous day, down by 0.04 times from the previous day. There were 2.96 million open contracts. 

Altria Group, Inc.(MO.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 0.09%, and the total trading volume of options for the day reached 610,000 contracts, an increase of 583,100 contracts from the previous day, a volume increase of 19.42 times compared to the previous day, with put options accounting for 1.49% of total trading volume, and call options accounting for 98.51%. There were 330,000 open contracts. 

Altria had an ex-dividend and ex-rights date on March 25, 2025, with a dividend distribution of 1.02 USD per share.

Marathon Digital(MARA.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 18.01%, and the total trading volume of options for the day reached 500,000 contracts, an increase of 190,500 contracts from the previous day, a volume increase of 0.61 times compared to the previous day. There were 1.52 million open contracts. 

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

Options Activity Tracking:

Tesla Motors, Inc.(TSLA.US) : Overnight, the stock increased by 11.93%, with both call and put options actively traded:

TSLA 280325 P 272.5 put options with a strike price of 272.5 USD and expiration date of March 28, 2025, traded 37,900 contracts, and this option fell by 77.49%. 

TSLA 280325 P 267.5 put options with a strike price of 267.5 USD and expiration date of March 28, 2025, traded 23,700 contracts, and this option fell by 79.95%. 

TSLA 280325 C 302.5 call options with a strike price of 302.5 USD and expiration date of March 28, 2025, traded 30,400 contracts, and this option rose by 775.0%.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.(AMD.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 6.96%, and AMD 280325 P 112 put options with a strike price of 112.0 USD and expiration date of March 28, 2025, traded 14,300 contracts; this option fell by 80.32%.

Warner Bros Discovery(WBD.US): Overnight, the stock increased by 2.14%, with WBD_250516_C_11.0 call options with a strike price of 11.0 USD and expiration date of May 16, 2025, trading 12,100 contracts and this option increased by 2.67%. Investors are betting on a long-term bullish trend for the stock.

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.

Options IV Unusual Movements:

D-Wave Quantum Inc. Common Shares(QBTS.US): For the day, the total trading volume of options reached 108,300 contracts, with put options accounting for 34.28% of the total trading volume and call options accounting for 65.72%. The implied volatility reached 127.00%.

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

Note: Implied volatility is an estimate of 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, alongside time value and directional movement, embodies 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