The power of options lies in their versatility as they present a world of opportunity to sophisticated investors (see the 32Trades version of “Options 101“). This versatility, however, does not come without its costs and, despite what anybody tells you, option trading involves risk, especially if you don’t know what you are doing. It’s for this reason why ONLY risk capital should ever be used.

One easy way to get a feel for options, or even bank on them, is to “follow the money.”

The lists below are the highest volume options traded today. When looking into one, visit StockCharts or your trading platform to pull up the chart so you can visualize and track the divergences, PPS spikes, and get a feel for why the volume was so high and if it is one you might want to track.

Top 10 Stock Options Traded

Symbol	Type	Strike	Exp Date	Last	Volume	OI	IV
UNP	Call	130	03/16/18	9.78	91,002	141,581	23.61%
AMTD	Put	42	01/05/18	0.05	36,022	35,391	62.72%
PX	Call	150	01/19/18	5.5	32,593	48,480	19.03%
GGP	Call	26.74	01/19/18	0.04	32,316	31,435	34.76%
GE	Call	28	01/18/19	0.16	31,098	86,420	28.64%
SQ	Call	42	01/19/18	0.15	27,532	3,455	43.83%
NKE	Call	70	01/19/18	0.03	23,139	21,726	20.21%
NKE	Call	60	01/19/18	3.31	23,051	21,296	23.07%
GE	Put	16	02/16/18	0.18	20,391	377	27.07%
AAPL	Call	170	12/29/17	1.19	20,055	12,598	23.24%

Top 10 ETF Options Traded

Symbol	Type	Strike	Exp Date	Last	Volume	OI	IV
SPY	Call	267	12/29/17	0.99	97,610	288,701	14.14%
SPY	Call	266	12/29/17	1.76	80,148	232,951	16.33%
SPY	Call	269	12/29/17	0.06	79,976	86,993	9.61%
SPY	Call	268	12/29/17	0.33	58,883	108,435	10.86%
IWM	Put	139	02/16/18	0.47	46,519	142,712	20.15%
IWM	Put	141	03/16/18	1.16	45,000	3,089	19.22%
SPY	Put	267	12/29/17	0.33	44,773	54,625	8.09%
IWM	Put	150	03/16/18	2.75	41,316	32,062	15.39%
IWM	Put	148	02/16/18	1.38	37,812	126,067	15.47%
SPY	Put	265	12/29/17	0.12	32,779	92,419	14.69%

Unusual Options Activity

Provides insight on what “smart money” is doing with large volume orders. Option volume that exceeds open interest signals new positioning.

Stocks

Symbol	Type	Strike	Exp Date	Last	Volume	OI	Vol/OI Ratio
PEP	Call	135	03/16/18	0.52	12,619	163	77.42
GE	Put	16	02/16/18	0.18	20,391	377	54.09
FINL	Call	16	02/16/18	0.35	5,204	185	28.13
BABA	Call	190	02/02/18	1.68	3,305	134	24.66
UNH	Call	232.5	01/19/18	1	5,189	218	23.8
GE	Call	16	02/16/18	1.65	4,750	200	23.75
AKS	Put	5.5	01/05/18	0.11	5,370	228	23.55
STZ	Call	230	02/16/18	5.8	4,474	193	23.18
INTC	Put	44.5	12/29/17	0.02	4,275	199	21.48
LNG	Call	57.5	03/16/18	1.81	6,026	282	21.37
JPM	Put	85	01/05/18	0.01	4,500	235	19.15
AKRX	Put	32.5	06/15/18	1.95	5,023	271	18.54
AMCN	Call	2.5	06/15/18	0.05	4,192	231	18.15
WATT	Put	17.5	01/19/18	1.1	2,423	135	17.95
FB	Call	190	02/02/18	1.89	3,048	171	17.82

ETFs

Symbol	Type	Strike	Exp Date	Last	Volume	OI	Vol/OI Ratio
XLU	Call	52.5	01/19/18	0.66	13,236	298	44.42
UVXY	Call	1	06/15/18	9.2	12,627	377	33.49
XOP	Put	37	02/16/18	1.31	10,828	405	26.74
SPY	Put	261	01/03/18	0.2	3,894	157	24.8
GLD	Call	124.5	01/19/18	0.42	2,393	115	20.81
IEF	Call	106	01/18/19	1.76	5,000	244	20.49
SMH	Put	96	03/16/18	2.9	10,307	507	20.33
IWM	Put	135	01/17/20	8.93	2,000	107	18.69
XLU	Put	52.5	01/19/18	0.74	13,189	716	18.42
SPY	Put	253	01/26/18	0.45	2,769	151	18.34
XRT	Call	46	02/16/18	1.11	3,676	232	15.84
QQQ	Put	151	01/12/18	0.3	4,539	296	15.33
IWM	Put	141	03/16/18	1.16	45,000	3,089	14.57
JNUG	Call	18.5	12/29/17	0.16	3,787	269	14.08
GLD	Call	123.5	01/19/18	0.68	6,829	549	12.44