Today's Options Market Update

Stocks Sink as Concern About End of War Reignites

April 2, 2026 Joe Mazzola

After two days of gains, markets reversed after President Trump made statements about near-term continuation of the war in Iran. Markets are closed tomorrow for Good Friday.

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Editor's note: U.S. markets are closed Friday, April 3, in observance of Good Friday, so today will be the final Option's Market Update for the week. Thank you, as always, for your continued support!

Oil prices rose and stocks sank after President Trump said late Wednesday the U.S. would hit Iran "extremely hard" over the next two to three weeks. In a nationally televised address, Trump didn't offer a clear path to a relatively quick resolution to the Iran war or a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

In data this morning, initial weekly jobless claims fell to 202,000. Analysts had expected 215,000, according to Briefing.com. The rest of the day is light in terms of data and earnings. Yesterday's U.S. data looked solid, but the March ISM Manufacturing PMI^® raised eyebrows for those tracking inflation. "ISM manufacturing prices paid continued to surge in March" and made a new cycle high, noted Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy at the Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR). Something to check today is FactSet's updated first quarter projections, which last week pegged S&P 500 earnings growth at 13%.

Major U.S. indexes built on Tuesday's rally yesterday, led by cyclical sectors like industrials, communication services, and technology that often perform better when the economy is growing. The brief rally had largely been driven by signals from Trump that the war might end relatively soon, but traders and investors apparently weren't reassured by what they heard from Trump on Wednesday night.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

Morning Rush

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by ~1 basis point to 4.307%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is higher by 0.40% to 99.95.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is higher by 3.42% to 25.38.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 10.76% to $110.89/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 1.07% to $67,352.

Ethereum (ETH) is down by 3.27% to $2,069.

Today's Bullish Activity

Shares of Globalstar Inc. (GSAT + $7.56 to $76.10) are higher today by over 11.00%, to a 52-week high, after the Financial Times reported that Amazon.com Inc. is in talks to acquire the satellite provider. While the deal wasn't officially consummated, investors have pushed shares higher on the news. In fact, shares have more than tripled in the past year. There are, however, hurdles to overcome, as Apple holds a 20% stake in Globalstar and will have a say in the decision. Globalstar powers Apple's emergency services feature on its iPhones.

The acquisition of Globalstar would accelerate Amazon's plans for a low-Earth-orbit satellite constellation to rival Elon Musk's SpaceX, with Amazon planning a space-based Wi-Fi service with over 3,000 satellites, per Bloomberg. Amazon has already deployed more than 200 internet satellites to orbit in its Leo program.

Option trading in GSAT currently stands at 9,445 contracts, 20x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts 5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

April 17th, 2026, 80.00 call accounted for 3,392 contracts; open interest is 2,862 contracts.
May 15th, 2026, 85.00 call accounted for 1,030 contracts; open interest is 312 contracts.
May 15th, 2026, 90.00 call accounted for 1,016 contracts; open interest is 99 contracts.

New 52-week highs (91 new highs today): Intuitive Machines Inc. (LUNR + $3.06 to $23.30), Satellogic Inc. (SATL+ $0.80 to $6.51), Globalstar Inc. (GSAT + $7.56 to $76.10), Fastly Inc. (FSLY + $1.04 to $33.40)

Notable Call Activity

Unusual call activity is noted today in Virgin Galactic Holdings (SPCE + $0.08 to $2.48), as call volume currently stands at 33,654 contracts, 7x the average daily volume and 40x put volume. Traders are active in both the May 15th and July 17th, 2026 expiration months where over 22,000 contracts have traded collectively. They are targeting the 3.50 strike in May, with large block orders on both the buy and sell side and the 2.50 strike call in July. Most of the July trades were buys, as traders appear to be closing some short call positions at the 2.50 strike, according to open interest positions. Shares of SPCE are trading just above their 52-week low price of $2.13 and were downgraded the past two days by both Jeffries and Susquehanna.

Another name exhibiting unusual call activity today is Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB - $0.05 to $46.77), as call volume has risen to 9,603 contracts in morning trading, 16x the average volume. What's driving today's volume is an interesting combination trade in the June 18th, 2026, expiration month. Traders bought 9,349 of the 50.00 strike calls and sold 9,349 of the 42.00 strike puts to finance the purchase. The total debit paid was $0.50 for the trade. The strategy is known as a (bullish) risk reversal. The choice of the 42.00 strike for the put sale was interesting as well, as it roughly aligns with a near-term low on the chart. With a collective 3,100 contracts of open interest between the two strikes, we know this represents new positioning (suggesting bullish intent). Shares of FITB just popped above their 200-day simple moving average.

Today's Bearish Activity

Shares of Blue Owl Capital Inc. (OWL - $0.18 to $8.53) are down over 2.50% today, after the firm announced it will limit redemptions from two of its private credit funds after facing a surge in withdrawal requests. Blue Owl has reported that investors in its $36 billion Blue Owl Credit Income Corp. fund have attempted to redeem 21.9% of shares in the three months ended March 31. This is up from 5.2% in the prior period. The smaller Blue Owl Technology Income Corp. saw shareholders ask for 40.7% back, compared with 15.4% three months earlier.

Blue Owl said it would cap redemptions at 5% "in accordance with the fund structure. The firm also announced that both of its aforementioned funds have returned more than 9% annualized since inception, and are in a "strong position" to meet the 5% redemption requests and future tenders. According to Blue Owl, the vast majority of its funds have ample resources to keep up with the current pace of withdrawals.

Option trading in OWL currently stands at 52,831 contracts, 3x the average daily volume with puts outpacing calls 4:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

June 18th, 2026, 8.00 put accounted for 15,514 contracts; open interest is 14,596 contracts.
April 2nd, 2026, 8.50 put accounted for 5,699 contracts; open interest is 1,128 contracts.
April 2nd, 2026, 8.00 put accounted for 1,529 contracts; open interest is 5,370 contracts.

New 52-week lows (111 new lows today): Blue Owl Capital Inc. (OWL - $0.18 to $8.53), Nike Inc. (NKE - $0.77 to $43.87), Nuscale Power Corp. (SMR - $0.20 to $10.06), Inovio Pharm (INO - $0.63 to $1.11)

Notable Put Activity

There is unusual put activity today in Regions Financial Corp. (RF + $0.02 to $26.36). This activity equates to over 5,028 put contracts, 140x average daily put volume and 200x the call volume. Nearly all the put activity can be attributed to a large block trade in the April 17th, 2026, expiration month. Traders sold 5,000 of the 25.00 strike puts at a price of $0.40 when the bid/ask was $0.30 x $0.65. There were only 517 contracts of open interest, so we can assume new positioning (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of RF have pulled back over 15% since posting a 52-week high price of $31.53 back in February. Traders may be assuming a short-term bottom is forming.

Unusual activity has also been detected in Vital Farms Inc. (VITL - $0.35 to $13.05), as put volume stands at 8,085 contracts, 13x average volume and 25x call volume, in morning trading. Traders are sellers of the April 17th, 2026, expiration 15.00 strike puts through multiple block trades. The average sale price is $3.10 which was the bid at the time of transactions. This may represent an addition to a short put position, given the open interest of 4,846 contracts (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of VITL just posted a 52-week low price of $12.53 earlier today and are down around 75% since last August's 52-week high price of $53.13.

Gauging Volatility

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 0.98 to 25.54) is higher by 4.00% today, as equity markets are slightly lower across the board in morning trading (DJI - 171, SPX - 13, COMPX - 50). VIX movement has occurred within a normal range today (the intraday range is 23.50 to 25.30). The highest volume contract is currently the May 19th, 2026, 20.00 put (volume is 23,252 vs. open interest of 242,041).

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