Today's Options Market Update

The keystone event of the week and perhaps the month comes after the close when Nvidia (NVDA) reports, but first investors eye results from Lowe's (LOW) and Target (TGT) ahead of Fed minutes and tomorrow's jobs report. Major indexes clawed back overnight from yesterday's one-month lows, but direction the rest of the week could depend on Nvidia's performance. Shares of the AI giant compose more than 7% of the S&P 500 index, and a large move in the stock is expected when it reports with markets currently pricing in around a 7% move.

Fed minutes at 2 p.m. ET could offer new perspective on a familiar debate about which poses more of a threat: stubborn inflation or an unsteady labor market. Thursday's September nonfarm payrolls data will offer some clarity, with tepid jobs growth of 50,000 expected. Layoffs spiked in October, possibly making data from that month and November more consequential. Any sign of much stronger- or weaker-than-expected September jobs growth could show up in bond trading, where the benchmark 10-year yield has been stuck between around 4% and 4.15% lately amid a lack of data. Meanwhile, a December rate cut now looks like a 50-50 proposition, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.

Stocks fell Tuesday for the fourth straight session on tech weakness after a midday attempt to pare losses failed, though five of 11 sectors gained. The S&P 500 index is in its longest slide since August and 4% below the all-time high posted in late October. It hasn't suffered a 5% decline since April, but several of those tend to happen each year. At times like these, investors often focus on the negative, but seasonally this is a strong period, and third quarter earnings rose far more than analysts had expected. Chip stocks have led the retreat but many, including Nvidia, rose in pre-market action today ahead of this afternoon's fireworks.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by 1 bps to 4.11%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is up 0.60% at 100.15.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is down 0.25% to 24.63.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is lower by 2.44% to $59.19/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) continues its descent down by 4.00%, trading at $89,200.

Ethereum (ETH) is down by 6.50% today to $2,925.

Shares of La-Z-Boy Inc. (LZB + $5.71 to $35.30) are up nearly 20.00%, in morning trading, the shares, largest intraday rise since June 2017, after the home furniture retailer reported both sales and adjusted EPS for Q2 that beat Wall Street's expectations. The firm also announced plans to exit its non-core businesses, such as Kincaid upholstery and American Drew casegoods. For Q2, La-Z-Boy generated Adjusted EPS of $0.71 vs. estimates of $0.54, from net sales of $522.5 million, vs. estimate $517.7 million. Operating income was $36.2 million, once again topping estimates for $27.4 million. Going forward, for Q3, the company forecasts sales of $525 million to $545 million, with the midpoint slightly above estimates $534.3 million (Bloomberg Consensus), with operating margins expected to come in a range of 5% to 6.5%.

To help with cost cutting and margin expansion, the company announced its planned exit of non-core businesses (Kincaid and American Drew casegoods and Kincaid upholstery), and the proposed closure of a UK manufacturing facility. These initiatives combined will reduce sales by approximately $30 million, net, and increase margins by 75-100 bps, per Bloomberg.

Option trading in LZB currently stands at 1,172 contracts, 20x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts 2:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• November 21st, 2025, 35.00 call accounted for 273 contracts; open interest is 304 contracts.
• December 19th, 2025, 35.00 call accounted for 204 contracts; open interest is 168 contracts.
• December 19th, 2025, 35.00 put accounted for 146 contracts; open interest is zero contracts.

New 52-week highs (73 new highs today): Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL + $14.88 to $299.16), Nuvation Bio Inc. (NUVB + $1.87 to $6.67), Barrick Mining Corp. (B + $0.59 to $38.33), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ + $2.00 to $202.00)

Unusual call activity is noted today in the Arbor Realty Trust Inc. REIT (ABR + $0.35 to $8.88), as call volume currently stands at 16,829 contracts, 21x the average daily volume and 30x the put volume. Activity is greatest in the November 21st, 2025, expiration month, specifically at the 9.00 strike, where over 15,000 contracts have transacted, mostly on the buy side. Three large block orders of 1,000 contracts each are pacing the way with traders paying anywhere from $0.04 to $0.09. The open interest was only 850 contracts, so these are new positions (suggesting short-term bullish intent). Shares of ABR set a 52-week-low price of $8.18 yesterday, and traders may be predicting an ascent from these levels.

Another name exhibiting unusual activity today is Synopsis Inc. (SNPS + $16.18 to $400.00), as call volume has spiked to 14,852 contracts in morning trading. Nearly all the volume can be attributed to a large call vertical spread in the April 17th, 2026, expiration month where 7,000 spreads were purchased (14,000 contracts total). Traders paid $8.81 for the April 500.00/550.00 call vertical spread. There was only a collective 48 contracts of open interest between the two strikes, so we know this spread represents new positioning (suggesting bullish intent). Shares of SNPS have cratered nearly 40% since a 52-week-high price of $651.73 was set back on July 30th.

Shares of Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO - $22.33 to $23.16) are down nearly 50%, the biggest intraday drop on record, after the biotech's late-stage trial of mitapivat in sickle cell disease (SCD) failed to meet one of its main goals in pain. Per the report, the trial showed trend favoring mitapivat but did not meet statistical significance in primary endpoint of annualized rate of SCPCs (pain crises), and the key secondary endpoint of change from baseline in PROMIS Fatigue was not met. The trial did, however, meet its primary endpoint of hemoglobin response, with mitapivat demonstrating a statistically significant improvement compared to placebo.

In response, the company said it plans to meet with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to discuss a plan to bring to market and intends to submit a marketing application for mitapivat in the U.S. for sickle cell disease after having a pre-supplemental new drug application meeting with regulators in Q1, per MT Newswire.

Option trading in AGIO currently stands at 11,561 contracts in morning trading, on pace for 30x the daily average, with calls outpacing puts by 3:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• December 19th, 2025, 25.00 call accounted for 2,879 contracts; open interest is five contracts.
• January 16th, 2026, 45.00 call accounted for 2,054 contracts; open interest is 2,514 contracts.
• February 20th, 2026, 40.00 call accounted for 847 contracts; open interest is 12,924 contracts.

New 52-week lows (147 new lows today): Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO - $22.33 to $23.16), Wix.com Ltd. (WIX - $20.88 to $106.04), Carrier Global Corp. (CARR - $0.86 to $51.15), Li Auto Inc. (LI - $0.70 to $17.98)

There is unusual put activity today in Global Payments Inc. (GPN - $0.50 to $71.53). This activity equates to over 29,211 put contracts, 45x average daily put volume. Nearly half of the volume can be attributed to the January 16th, 2026, expiration, specifically at the 60.00 strike. One large block trade of note saw traders sell 12,930 of the 60.00 strike puts for $0.90 when the bid/ask spread was $0.70 x $1.20, so just slightly under the midpoint. We know this represents new positioning, given the open interest of 223 contracts (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of GPN have fallen about 17% in the past three weeks, approaching the 52-week low price of $65.93, set back on April 21st.

Unusual activity has also been detected in Sigma Lithium Corp. (SGML + $2.29 to $10.06), as put volume stands at 15,742 contracts in morning trading, 9x average daily volume. Traders purchased 10,000 of the April 17th, 2026, expiration 6.00 put strike contracts in a single block transaction for a price of $1.10 when the bid/ask was $0.50 x $1.25. We know this represents new positioning based on the open interest of 1,389 contracts (suggesting bearish intent). Shares of SGML have more than doubled in the past two weeks, and are up over 29% today alone, so this may be a hedge against a pullback.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 0.06 to 24.63) is down slightly this morning, by 0.25%, as equity markets are down across the board (DJI - 114, SPX - 4, COMPX - 9). VIX movement has occurred within a wider range today (the intraday range is 21.93 – 24.78). The highest volume contract is currently the January 21st, 60.00 call (volume is 77,052 vs. open interest of 226,915).