Today's Options Market Update

Stocks Flat Ahead of Shortened Trading Session

December 24, 2025 Joe Mazzola

Stocks were little changed on Christmas Eve after four days of gains pushed the S&P 500 to a record high.

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Stocks had barely budged heading into the holiday-shortened trading session, though investors have plenty to cheer about as the major indexes sit at or near record highs and the U.S. economy continues to outperform expectations.

Today marks the "official" beginning of the "Santa Claus rally" period, which covers the final five trading days of the year and the first two of the new year. Markets tend to rise during this period, but if it happens this year it'll be the first time in three years. Markets will close today at 1 p.m. ET and will remain closed for the Christmas holiday tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO) led a tech rally that pushed markets higher for a fourth consecutive day, with the S&P 500 closing at a record high. The Dow and Nasdaq also rose. Trading volume was thin. The market was also bolstered by the release of a delayed report showing stronger-than-expected economic growth in the third quarter. The 10-year Treasury yield ticked up to 4.17% as the stronger growth caused some to reconsider expectations for Federal Reserve rate cuts. Gold and silver again hit all-time highs.

This will be the final Options Market Update report for the week, given the holiday shortened week. We will publish the next report on Monday December 29th, 2025.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

Morning Rush

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is down 1 bps to 4.16%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is lower by 0.03% at 97.92.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is down by 2.21% to 13.69.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 0.34% to $58.58/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) is falling 0.72% to $87,050.

Ethereum (ETH) is lower by 1.75% at $2,918.

Notable Call Activity

Unusual call activity is noted today in Nike Inc. (NKE + $2.80 to $60.14), as call volume currently stands at 133,145 contracts, 13x the average daily volume and 4x the put volume. Most of the volume has come from large block trades in the December 26th, 2025, and the January 2nd, 9th,16th, and 30th, 2026, expiration cycles. The most active strike is the 60.00 strike where over 50,000 contracts have traded collectively between those expirations. Many of these trades have been bullish in nature with traders buying these calls at the ask price. Shares of NKE have been under pressure in the past week, down over 12%, following NKE's most recent earnings announcement.

Another name exhibiting unusual activity today is Geo Group Inc. (GEO + $0.19 to $16.40), as call volume has spiked to 9,440 contracts in morning trading, 17x the average volume and 150x the put volume. Traders are active in the back months, particularly the June 18th, 2026, and the January 15th, 2027, expiration months. Traders have been buying the 30.00 strike in both months, a total of over 5,000 options, paying near the offer on most of the trades. The collective open interest between the strikes was around 2,500 contracts, so these trades could be additions to previous longs. This would suggest bullish intent. Shares of GEO are down over 50% from their 52-week high price of $36.46, set last January.

New 52-week highs (157 new highs today): Micron Technology (MU + $10.62 to $286.89), Dynavax Technologies (DVAX + $4.31 to $15.44), Omeros Corp. (OMER + $6.39 to $15.14), Bank of America Corp. (BAC + $0.26 to $56.15)

Notable Put Activity

There is unusual put activity today in Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN - $2.43 to $140.03). This activity equates to over 4,347 put contracts, 23x average daily put volume and 80x today's call volume. Much of the volume can be attributed to multiple block orders in the April 17th, 2026, expiration month, specifically at the 100.00 strike put. Traders sold 3,014 of the 100.00 strike puts with prices ranging between $1.20 - $ 1.50, all at the ask price at the time. Open interest was only 521 contracts, so we know this represents new positioning (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of MTN are down 27% in the past year and are now trading below all major moving averages, including the 200-day MA.

Unusual activity has also been detected in Clearwater Analytics (CWAN + $0.05 to $24.15), as put volume stands at 8,616 contracts in morning trading, 15x average volume. Traders are trading LEAPs all the way out in the January 21st, 2028, expiration month. They've sold over 6,500 of the 22.50 put strike at an average price of around $0.15, when the bid/ask was $0.15 x $0.30. These are new positions, given the open interest of 864 contracts (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of CWAN are up over 50% since early November when they hit a 52-week low price of $15.74.

New 52-week lows (37 new lows today): Citius Pharmeuticals Inc. (CTXR - $0.21 to $0.83), Strategy Inc. (MSTR - $1.28 to $156.60), DeFi Technologies Inc. (DEFT - $0.04 to $0.89)

Gauging Volatility

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 0.31 to 13.69) is lower by 2.21%, as equity markets are slightly higher during today's holiday shortened trading hours (DJI + 160, SPX + 10, COMPX + 2). VIX movement has occurred within a narrow range today (the intraday range is 13.68 to 14.16). The highest volume contract is currently the January 21st, 2026, 50.00 call (volume is 12,762 vs. open interest of 130,530).

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