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 | |
VRX | Put | 11 | 11/17/17 | 0.3 | 46,740 | 40,419 | 78.63% | |
VRX | Put | 14 | 11/17/17 | 1.14 | 46,531 | 1,146 | 68.18% | |
MU | Call | 35 | 10/20/17 | 5.5 | 45,508 | 100,352 | 50.38% | |
T | Call | 41 | 01/19/18 | 0.63 | 39,968 | 63,058 | 13.85% | |
F | Put | 11 | 12/15/17 | 0.1 | 38,669 | 43,559 | 25.84% | |
PBR | Put | 10 | 01/18/19 | 1.4 | 33,233 | 56,400 | 37.71% | |
F | Put | 12 | 10/06/17 | 0.1 | 31,594 | 33,764 | 86.37% | |
AMD | Call | 13.5 | 10/06/17 | 0.2 | 30,291 | 11,589 | 80.98% | |
MAR | Call | 150 | 01/18/19 | 1.64 | 30,001 | 30,001 | 21.79% | |
MAR | Call | 155 | 01/18/19 | 1.4 | 30,000 | 30,000 | 21.63% |
Top 10 ETF Options Traded
Symbol | Type | Strike | Exp Date | Last | Volume | OI | IV | |
SPY | Put | 252 | 10/06/17 | 0.22 | 88,277 | 24,360 | 10.51% | |
XLF | Call | 27 | 12/15/17 | 0.32 | 52,050 | 89,529 | 13.69% | |
QQQ | Call | 146 | 10/06/17 | 0.53 | 45,195 | 22,207 | 19.24% | |
SPY | Put | 229.5 | 10/06/17 | 0.02 | 41,408 | 26,289 | 64.67% | |
IWM | Put | 145 | 11/17/17 | 1.13 | 37,719 | 41,113 | 15.29% | |
SPY | Call | 254 | 10/20/17 | 0.93 | 37,355 | 104,624 | 6.76% | |
SPY | Call | 253.5 | 10/04/17 | 0.08 | 37,268 | 9,520 | 5.57% | |
SPY | Call | 255 | 11/17/17 | 1.77 | 36,290 | 56,839 | 7.58% | |
SPY | Call | 252 | 10/06/17 | 1.21 | 36,107 | 77,950 | 13.12% | |
SPY | Put | 235 | 10/25/17 | 0.14 | 36,020 | 1,662 | 17.23% |
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 | |
CPE | Put | 11 | 10/20/17 | 0.26 | 10,027 | 167 | 60.04 | |
EXPE | Put | 143 | 10/20/17 | 1.94 | 6,500 | 130 | 50 | |
JBLU | Call | 20 | 11/17/17 | 0.87 | 13,518 | 296 | 45.67 | |
CS | Call | 17.5 | 03/16/18 | 0.5 | 12,035 | 274 | 43.92 | |
VRX | Put | 14 | 11/17/17 | 1.14 | 46,531 | 1,146 | 40.6 | |
VRX | Put | 14.5 | 10/13/17 | 0.52 | 5,063 | 128 | 39.55 | |
T | Put | 44 | 10/20/17 | 9.35 | 4,000 | 110 | 36.36 | |
AERI | Call | 60 | 11/17/17 | 3.9 | 6,577 | 188 | 34.98 | |
BOFI | Put | 25 | 11/17/17 | 0.65 | 5,513 | 169 | 32.62 | |
INTC | Call | 42 | 11/17/17 | 0.24 | 17,012 | 548 | 31.04 |
ETFs
Symbol | Type | Strike | Exp Date | Last | Volume | OI | Vol/OI Ratio | |
VXX | Call | 52 | 11/17/17 | 1.16 | 30,003 | 241 | 124.49 | |
SPY | Put | 260 | 11/17/17 | 7.39 | 13,022 | 132 | 98.65 | |
SPY | Call | 262.5 | 11/03/17 | 0.08 | 4,620 | 129 | 35.81 | |
VXX | Call | 38 | 11/17/17 | 3.45 | 30,553 | 1,187 | 25.74 | |
VXX | Call | 63 | 10/06/17 | 0.01 | 2,950 | 129 | 22.87 | |
SPY | Put | 235 | 10/25/17 | 0.14 | 36,020 | 1,662 | 21.67 | |
XBI | Call | 95 | 11/17/17 | 0.55 | 3,516 | 171 | 20.56 | |
XLU | Put | 52.5 | 10/27/17 | 0.5 | 2,164 | 108 | 20.04 | |
SPY | Put | 217 | 10/11/17 | 0.01 | 5,000 | 250 | 20 | |
FXI | Call | 45.5 | 10/06/17 | 0.23 | 2,084 | 106 | 19.66 |