Key focus.

1,$NVIDIA (NVDA.US)$With an accumulated increase of nearly 12% in three days, the market cap of NVIDIA surpassed that of Apple to become the second highest in the world. The overnight volume of options trading was 2.05 million contracts, almost double that of the previous trading day, and the call option ratio rose to 60%. Among the active call options, the most traded in this week expired on Friday with the exercise price at $1200, which traded 94,000 contracts and had 20,000 open interests. By searching for large block trades worth more than $100 million in turnover, it was found that big players bought a call option contract that expires on July 19 with a exercise price at $900 when the NVIDIA stock price was $1206.62. In addition, the option premium of several call options that expire on Friday increased 7 times.

"AI leader" NVIDIA announced that it will implement a 10:1 stock split after Friday's market close. After continuous sharp rises in recent trading days, its overnight market cap surpassed that of Apple, ranking the second largest company in the world, with a stock price over $1200. After the split, NVIDIA's stock price will be around $120, which is more affordable and could attract more retail investors to participate.

2,$GameStop (GME.US)$With an increase of over 19% overnight and a volume of options trading of 610,000 contracts, an increase of more than 30% compared to the previous day, the call option ratio slightly increased to 68%. Among the options chain, the most active call options were those that expired this Friday with exercise prices of $30/$40, with trading volumes of 49,000 contracts and 23,000 contracts respectively, and both had open interests around 17,000 contracts. In addition, the option premium of several call options that expire on the same day also increased significantly.

3,$Meta Platforms (META.US)$With an increase of nearly 4% overnight and a volume of options trading of 460,000 contracts, which was more than 210% larger than the previous day, the call option ratio rose from 56% to 68%. The call option with the exercise price of $490 that expired this Friday was acquired, with a trading volume of 33,000 contracts, and open interests almost reached 4000 contracts. Worth noting is that several call options that expire on the same day earned 7 times the option premium.

In a report, Raymond James maintained its "strong buy" rating on Meta, calling it a leader in generating artificial intelligence (GenAI) and raised its target price from $525 to $550. The bank believes that the market underestimates Meta's ability in GenAI and points out that it has advantages in computing infrastructure, distribution scale, and talent acquisition.

1. US stock options trading list

2. ETF options trading list.

3. Individual stock implied volatility (IV) ranking.

Risk warning

Options are contracts that give the holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a fixed price on or before a specific date, without any obligation. The price of an option is influenced by various factors, including the current price of the underlying asset, exercise price, expiration time and implied volatility.

Implied volatility reflects the market's expectation for the future volatility of an option, and it is a signal of market sentiment derived from the option pricing model called Black-Scholes (BS). When investors expect greater volatility, they may be willing to pay a higher premium for an option to help hedge risks, thus resulting in a higher implied volatility.

Traders and investors use implied volatility to assess the attractiveness of option prices, identify potential mispricing, and manage risk exposure.

Disclaimer

This content does not constitute an offer, solicitation, recommendation, opinion, or guarantee of any securities, financial products or instruments. The loss risk of buying and selling options could be substantial. In certain circumstances, you may suffer losses exceeding the amount initially deposited as margin. Even if you set up backup instructions, such as stop loss or limit instructions, losses may not be avoided. Market conditions may render such orders impossible to execute. You may be required to deposit additional margin in a very short period of time. If the required amount cannot be provided within the specified time, your open contracts may be closed. However, you are still responsible for any shortfalls in your account arising from this. Therefore, before buying or selling, you should research and understand the options, and consider carefully whether such trading is suitable for you based on your financial situation and investment objectives. If you buy or sell options, you should be familiar with the exercise of options and the procedures at expiration, as well as your rights and obligations when exercising an option or at expiration.

Editor/tolk