Today's Options Market Update

Stocks Soft Ahead of Data Intensive Week

December 15, 2025 Nathan Peterson

Stocks are lower around midday following a higher open as investors position for a week loaded with key economic data points.

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The final pre-holiday week opens with stocks rebounding from Friday's swoon, led by tech names like Nvidia (NVDA) and Broadcom (AVGO). A "Santa Claus" rally is no guarantee after the recent rotation out of tech stocks, and coming days are packed with market-moving data—arguably none more critical than tomorrow's November U.S. nonfarm payrolls report.

Analysts think the U.S. added 30,000 jobs in November with unemployment stable at 4.4%, according to a Briefing.com consensus. Other key metrics to watch at 8:30 a.m. ET Tuesday include wage growth and workforce participation after the recent rise in layoffs. If the report shows more strength than expected, it might re-ignite inflation concerns. Later this week come rate decisions from the European Central Bank (ECB) and the Bank of Japan (BOJ), along with U.S. inflation data. Earnings also get in under the wire with chip maker Micron (MU) and Nike (NKE) due Wednesday and Thursday before corporate news quiets the final two weeks of the year. FedEx (FDX) also shares results Thursday.

A central question this week is whether rotation continues out of tech into cyclical sectors like small-caps, financials, materials, and industrials. Oracle (ORCL) and Broadcom retreated Friday as concerns about debt-driven AI spending persisted, capsizing the tech-heavy Nasdaq after the S&P 500® index, Russell 2000 (RUT), and Dow Jones Industrial Average forged record closes Thursday. A jump in Treasury yields also spooked Wall Street, though yields eased today. Markets have been contending with the backdrop of a firm U.S. economy, a cooperative Fed, bullish seasonality, and a healthy broadening of the rally versus concerns around AI and potentially higher long-term yields.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

Morning Rush

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by 5 basis points to 4.116%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is lower by 0.193 to 98.206.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is lower by 1.01% to $56.86/barrel.

Gold prices have traded in a range of $4,324.40-$4,384.30 and were last seen trading higher by ~0.72% to $4,359.30/oz.

Natural Gas prices have traded in a range of $3.993-4.218 today and were last seen trading lower by 1.02% to $4.071.

Bitcoin (BTC) is lower by ~2.41% to $89,820.19 today.

Today's Bullish Activity

Shares of Agilent Technologies Inc. (A + $3.27 to $142.95) are trading higher this morning after Barclays upgraded the provider of life sciences tools & services to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” while maintaining their $165.00 price target on the stock. Analysts at Barclays cited positive momentum in the company’s core businesses and said the recent pullback in the stock price provides an attractive entry point. Calls are outnumbering puts ~3:1 with the January 2027 110.00 call seeing the most action from traders (volume is 160).

Also trading to the upside this morning is The Hershey Company (HSY + $6.23 to $188.06) after Morgan Stanley upgraded the maker of confectionary products and pantry items to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” and raised their price target on the stock to $211.00 from $195.00. Analysts at Morgan Stanely cited the company’s early-stage positive fundamental inflection and clear visibility into earnings growth acceleration. Calls are outnumbering puts ~4:1 with the January 16^th 2026 195.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 73).

New 52-week highs (173 new highs today): Citigroup Inc. (C + $0.83 to $112.63), Dollar Tree Inc. (DLTR + $0.79 to $130.66), General Motors Co. (GM + $0.55 to $81.44)

Notable Call Activity

Some unusual call activity (~15:1 calls over puts) is being seen in Altria Group Inc. (MO + $0.86 to $59.62) as option traders primarily target the December 19^th 61.00 call. Volume on this contract is 20,385 versus open interest of 1,831, so we know that the activity primarily represents fresh positioning. The majority of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.07-0.14 each, which suggests bullish intent.

Today's Bearish Activity

Shares of ServiceNow Inc. (NOW - $90.75 to $774.31) are under pressure this morning following a Bloomberg report that the digital workflow software provider is nearing a deal to buy cybersecurity firm Armis for as much as $7B, which would represent ServiceNow’s largest acquisition ever. Separately, KeyBanc downgraded NOW to Underweight from Sector Weight and set a $775.00 price target on the stock, citing “worrying trends in IT back-office employment data” and a belief that the company becomes “at-risk-from-AI” in the coming quarters. Calls are outnumbering puts ~4:3 with the February 20^th 640.00 put seeing the most action from traders (volume is 1,306).

Also trading to the downside this morning is Zillow Group Inc. (ZG - $8.17 to $64.21) following news that Google-parent Alphabet Inc. is testing real estate listings in search results. In a blog posted by real estate strategist Mike DelPrete on Friday, the listings included complete property detail pages, as well as options to contact agents and request home tours. However, DelPrete said that this appears to be a “test”, as the listings were only in a limited number of markets and only available on mobile. Calls are outpacing puts ~12:1 with the February 20^th 65.00 call garnering the most attention from traders (volume is 4,238).

New 52-week lows (114 new lows today): Cheniere Energy Inc. (LNG - $1.01 to $188.35), Costar Group Inc. (CSGP - $5.48 to $62.75), Texas Pacific Land Corporation Inc. (TPL - $17.18 to $821.46)

Notable Put Activity

Some unusual put activity (~20:1 puts over calls) is being seen in Entegris Inc. (ENTG - $3.16 to $89.39) which is primarily driven by a 5,400 contract block that was sold on the December 19^th 90.00 put for $2.40 when the bid/ask spread was $1.70 x $3.20 (open interest is 65). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and the put sale suggests that the block trader believes that ENTG will close above the $90.00 price level and/or is comfortable taking a long 540,000 share position in the stock at an effective purchase price of $87.60 if ENTG closes below $90.00 at expiration.

Volume Signals

Constellation Energy Inc. (CEG + $6.68 to $358.66): Option volume is running at ~12x the daily average on this utility company which is primarily being driven by a couple of market blocks that simultaneously traded on the December 19^th expiration earlier this morning:

372.50 call (open interest is 34): A 14,000 contract block was bought for $4.40 when the bid/ask spread was $3.70 x $5.00.
382.50 call (open interest is 91): A 14,000 contract block was sold for $1.91 when the bid/ask spread was $1.15 x $2.80.

We know that these blocks are new positions based on the respective open interest figures, and it appears that a $10.00-wide bull call spread was established for a net debit of $2.49 (x 14K contract x 100 multiplier, excluding commissions). The positioning suggests that the block trader believes that CEG will close above the break-even price of $374.99 at expiration.

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE + $0.04 to $44.31): Option volume is running at ~11x the daily average on this utility company as option traders primarily target the September 2026 45.00 call. Volume on this contract is 3,054 versus open interest of 1,303, so we know that the volume primarily represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $2.75-2.80 each, which suggests bullish intent.

STMicroelectronics N.V. (STM + $0.48 to $26.48): Option volume is running at ~4x the daily average on this chip maker which is primarily driven by a 1,420 contract block that was bought on the January 16^th 2026 28.00 call at the ask price of $0.75 (open interest is 611). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and we can assume that the intent is bullish in nature since the trade took place at the ask price.

Gauging Volatility

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 0.84 to 16.58) has been in positive territory all day today (the intraday range is 15.99-17.35), as equity markets are modestly lower around the midday mark (DJI - 86, SPX - 9, $COMP - 86). VIX option volume is above average today at 415,139 contracts, and the activity has been call-biased so far today.

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