Today's Options Market Update

Stocks took a breather early Friday but major indexes remain on pace for solid weekly gains. Today's a little light on data after the inflation and jobs derby that just ended. "Jobless claims jumped to the highest level since 2021 while inflation remains elevated," said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Schwab. "It likely won't deter the Fed from cutting rates next week, but it's a tough combination for monetary policy going forward."

Investors get a raft of data in coming days, highlighted by retail sales, housing starts, and the Conference Board's Leading Economic Index^®. But the Fed's rate decision, updated economic and rate projections, and Fed Chairman Jerome Powell's press conference Wednesday afternoon are the main events. As of this morning, chances of a 25-basis-point cut stood at 93% while odds of a 50-basis-point cut were 7%, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. Hopes for 50 helped propel this week's rally, and Thursday's slightly elevated Consumer Price Index (CPI) didn't stop the party. The question is whether just 25 basis points might disappoint.

Stocks rolled up more record highs Thursday with broad participation across most sectors, unlike the narrower rallies earlier this week. The percentage of S&P 500 stocks above their 50-day moving average topped 63% yesterday, but even that's relatively low breadth considering index strength. The biggest stocks still twirl the baton in this parade, potentially making the market vulnerable to any sudden pullback in the high-flying tech and communication-services arenas.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is higher by 5 basis points to 4.06%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is trading marginally higher at 97.64.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is down 1.50% to 14.49.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 0.30% to $62.54/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) is higher by 0.86%, trading at $115,930.

Ethereum (ETH) is higher by 3.36% today to $4,591.

Shares of IonQ Inc. (IONQ + $8.08 to $55.17) are up around 17.00% in morning trading after the quantum computing company said it its acquisition of Oxford Ionics was cleared by U.K. regulators. IonQ announced on Friday that the UK Investment Security Unit gave its approval for the acquisition of the company, its final condition for the deal to go through. The deal, which was initially announced back in June valued the transaction at $1.075 billion in cash and stock.

Per Dow Jones, this acquisition will add U.K.-based Oxford's ion-trap technology made on standard semiconductor chips to its quantum compute, application and networking stack, accelerating drug discovery, materials science, financial modeling, logistics, chemistry, aerospace, cybersecurity, and defense. The combined company expects to reach two million physical qubits, which are the basic units of quantum information, in its quantum computers by 2030, it said in June.

Option trading in IONQ currently stands at 419,504 contracts, 6x the daily average, with calls outpacing puts 1.5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• September 19th, 2025, 55.00 call accounted for 34,649 contracts; open interest is 4,830 contracts.
• September 19th, 2025, 60.00 call accounted for 30,991 contracts; open interest is 1,626 contracts.
• September 19th, 2025, 41.50 put accounted for 25,414 contracts; open interest is 22,812 contracts.

New 52-week highs (253 new highs today): Discovery Inc. Series A (WBD + $2.81 to $18.98), Grab Holdings Ltd. (GRAB + $0.44 to $5.97), IonQ Inc. (IONQ + $8.08 to $55.17), Micron Technology (MU + $5.86 to $156.43)

Unusual call activity is noted today in Kindly MD Inc. (NAKA - $0.93 to $3.01), as call volume currently stands at 38,558 contracts, 7x the average daily volume. Most of today's activity can be attributed to a large block call purchase of 20,000 contracts in the September 19th, 2025, expiration. Traders paid $1.15 for the 2.50 strike calls when the bid/ask was $1.00 x $1.20. These were new positions, giving the open interest of 3,102 contracts (suggesting bullish intent). What's also interesting about the trade is the shares are down 23% today and are down more than 90% from their late-May high price of $34.77. Traders will need the stock to rally rather quickly from these levels over the next seven days, as the break-even for the NAKA share price is $3.65, should they hold through expiration.

Another name exhibiting unusual activity today is D-Wave Quantum Inc. (QBTS + $0.92 to $17.45), as call volume has spiked to 101,990 contracts in morning trading, 5x daily average. Most of the volume can be attributed to activity in the September 19th, 2025, expiration, particularly at the 17.50, 18.00, 18.50, 19.00, 19.50, and 20.00 strike calls. Collectively, these strikes have registered over 27,000 contracts with much of the activity on the buy side. The combination of a put/call ratio at 0.23 and an increase in implied volatility by 1.4 points near 79.88, suggests calls were preferred over puts. The collective open interest also suggests many of these trades were opening trades (suggesting bullish intent). Shares of QBTS are attempting to close above their 50-day SMA for the first time since August 18th.

Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN - $0.63 to $13.35) are down nearly 5% today, on reports Rivian is recalling some of its cars to correct an issue with its driver-assistance technologies. Per Barron's, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently posted a recall notice on its website affecting about 24,000 Rivian R1T pickup trucks and R1S SUVs. Rivian's hands-free driver assistance software "may fail to correctly identify a lead vehicle," the notice said. The company announced it has released an over-the-air software update to correct the issue.
Rivian, like many other EV automakers, may find it more difficult to find buyers for their vehicles once the $7,500 federal purchase tax credit for qualifying EVs goes away at the end of September. Rivian stock is up about 4% year to date but down more than 90% from a record closing high of $172.01 reached on Nov. 16, 2021, when investors and analysts were more bullish about the outlook for EVs.

Option trading in RIVN currently stands at 191,932 contracts in morning trading, on pace for 3x the daily average, with calls outpacing puts 2.5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• September 12th, 2025, 13.50 call accounted for 20,191 contracts; open interest is 8,121contracts.
• September 19th, 2025, 14.00 call accounted for 9,696 contracts; open interest is 39,597 contracts.
• September 12th, 2025, 14.00 call accounted for 9,168 contracts; open interest is 10,810 contracts.

New 52-week lows (36 new lows today): Under Armour (UA - $0.16 to $4.88), Lululemon Athletica (LULU - $5.32 to $160.46), Keurig Dr Pepper Inc. (KDP - $0.52 to $27.07), Wendy's Company (WEN - $0.18 to $9.71)

There is unusual put activity today in Vor Biopharma Inc. (VOR - $0.08 to $1.73). This activity equates to over 9,359 put contracts, 16x average daily put volume. Traders are buying put vertical spreads in the January 16th, 2026, expiration month. Over 4,000 of the 1.50/1.00 put vertical spreads have transacted for an average price of around $0.30. Given the collective open interest of 4,100 contracts, we know these are new positions (suggesting bearish intent). Share of VOR have been cut nearly in half since hitting a 52-week-high price of $3.29 on July 7th. These bearish vertical spreads could suggest traders see more downside for the shares through the end of the year.

Another example of unusual put activity occurred today in Hecla Mining Co. (HL + $0.11 to $11.26), as put volume stands at 27,526 contracts in morning trading, 5x average daily volume. Most of the volume can be attributed a large block vertical put trade that occurred in the October 17th, 2025, expiration month. Traders bought 10,000 (20,000 contracts total) of the 10.00/9.50 (bearish) put vertical spreads for a debit of $0.17, when the bid/ask was $0.14 x $0.17. Open interest at those strikes was a collective 3,300 contracts, so we know this represents new positioning. Given shares of HL hit a 52-week-high price of $11.51 earlier today, and have rallied 83% since August 7th, this trade could be a hedge.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX - 0.23 to 14.49) is down 1.50% in morning trading, as equity markets are mixed across the board (DJI - 200, SPX + 2, COMPX + 100). VIX movement has occurred within a narrow range today (the intraday range is 14.41 – 14.82). The highest volume contract is the September 17th, 2025, 24.00 call (volume is 33,417 vs. open interest of 82,520).