Market Overview

U.S. stocks plunged on Monday (Mar. 10) as relentless tariff wrangling and mounting anxieties from a possible federal government shutdown gave rise to fears that the U.S. economy could be careening into recession.

Regarding the options market, a total volume of 60,944,100 contracts was traded, down 6% from the previous trading day.

Top 10 Option Volumes

Top 10: NVDA, TSLA, AAPL, PLTR, AMZN, MSTR, HOOD, META, AMD, SOFI

Source: Tiger Trade App

Nvidia shares sank more than 5% on Monday. The shares has lost 20% this year, falling victim to market worries over President Donald Trump’s tariff plans. The loss is the stock’s worst performance since the start of the year since 2022, when the shares fell 27%.

There are 3.62 million Nvidia option contracts traded on Monday, down 34% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 66% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $110 strike call option expiring March 14, with 117,952 contracts trading. NVDA 20250314 110.0 CALL

Tesla’s sell-off on Wall Street intensified on Monday, with shares of the electric vehicle maker plunging 15%, their worst day on the market since September 2020.

There are 3.59 million Tesla option contracts traded on Monday, down 3% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 52% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $250 strike call option expiring March 14, with 111,561 contracts trading. The price of $250 is 12.5% higher than Tesla's Monday closing price of $222.15. TSLA 20250314 250.0 CALL

Unusual Options Activity

Source: Market Chameleon

The Nasdaq 100 Index plunged 3.8% with Monday’s selling wiping out more than $1 trillion in value. The leveraged ETF ProShares UltraPro QQQ (TQQQ), which is linked to the Nasdaq 100 Index, plunged 11.3% on Monday. (ProShares UltraPro QQQ seeks daily investment results, before fees and expenses, that correspond to three times (3x) the daily performance of the Nasdaq-100 Index.)

There are 498.2K TQQQ option contracts traded on Monday, down 14% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 69% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $62 strike call option expiring March 14, with 20,021 contracts trading. TQQQ 20250314 62.0 CALL

NIO stock withstood the pressure of a sharp U.S. market sell-off on Monday, closing with only a slight 0.2% dip. The recent strength in Chinese stocks has boosted investor confidence.

There are 319K NIO option contracts traded on Monday, up 78% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 81% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $5 strike call option expiring March 21, with 29,963 contracts trading. NIO 20250321 5.0 CALL

Another popular Chinese stock, Alibaba, is also drawing increasing attention from investors. The US-listed shares dropped 5.8% on Monday.

There are 353.1K Alibaba option contracts traded on Monday, down 27% from the previous trading day. Call options account for 62% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $145 strike call option expiring March 14, with 13,953 contracts trading. TSLA 20250314 145.0 CALL

TOP 10 S&P 500 Bullish & Bearish

This report shows stocks with the highest volume of bullish and bearish activity by option delta volume, which converts option volume to an equivalent stock volume (bought or sold).

If we take the total positive option delta volume and subtract the total negative option delta volume, we will get the net imbalance. If the net imbalance is positive, there is more bullish pressure. If the net is negative, there is more bearish pressure.

Based on option delta volume, traders sold a net equivalent of -3,797,492 shares of Tesla stock. The largest bearish delta came from buying puts. The largest delta volume came from the 14-Mar-25 Put, with traders getting short 758,527 deltas on the single option contract.

Top 10 bullish stocks: T, UBER, FCX, AMZN, MRK, TGT, JNJ, NKE, BSX, PANW

Top 10 bearish stocks: TSLA, NVDA, WBA, F, PLTR, AAPL, DAL, XOM, KO; PFE

Source: Market Chameleon

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