Today's Options Market Update

Tech Weighs After Solid Retail Sales, Bank Results

January 14, 2026 Joe Mazzola

Tech shares mainly fell early today, putting pressure on indexes despite solid retail sales data and mostly positive bank earnings. A Supreme Court tariff ruling may come today.

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Stocks backpedaled and volatility surged amid geopolitical rumblings, fresh bank earnings, and economic data. Tech stocks mostly fell, weighing on major indexes, but at first glance, today's inflation and retail sales numbers appeared positive.

December's Producer Price Index (PPI) showed wholesale inflation up 0.2%, in line with consensus. Core PPI—excluding food and energy—was flat and below the 0.2% estimate. November retail sales climbed 0.6% versus a 0.4% consensus. "More of the focus is on retail sales, given the inflation data are still plagued by the government shutdown," said Kevin Gordon, head of macro research and strategy, Schwab Center for Financial Research (SCFR). "The jump in November sales confirms that consumers had relatively strong demand heading into the holiday season, and it was good to see healthy breadth across categories. There was slight downside in that October sales were revised down, but not by enough to cause major concern."

Major indexes slipped yesterday amid banking weakness following JPMorgan Chase (JPM) results that disappointed investors, though the S&P 500 Equal Weight Index (SPXEW) forged new highs. A slightly cool December Consumer Price Index (CPI) report pushed down Treasury yields. Crude oil rose again this morning amid Iran unrest, while investors await a possible Supreme Court tariff decision today that could affect shares of retailers and other companies which rely heavily on imports.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

Morning Rush

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is down 3 bps to 4.14%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is slightly lower by 0.12% at 99.01.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is up 10.08% to 17.58.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 1.24% to $61.92/barrel, a three-month high.

Bitcoin (BTC) is up by 3.47% to $98,020, a two-month high.

Ethereum (ETH) is higher by 5.60% at $3,392, a one-month high.

Today's Bullish Activity

Shares of Clover Health Investments (CLOV + $0.30 to $2.84) are up over 11.00%, the most intraday since October, after the health insurer said it expects to achieve its first-ever full year GAAP net income profitability in 2026. The company also disclosed it saw 53% year-over-year membership growth in its Medicare Advantage (MA) PPO plans for the 2026 plan year, taking the total to over 153,000 members. Per Bloomberg, more than 97% of Clover's January 1, 2026, MA membership is in its flagship PPO plan.

Option trading in CLOV currently stands at 64,053 contracts, 15x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts 15:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

January 16th, 2026, 3.00 call accounted for 49,084 contracts; open interest is 23,512 contracts.
January 23rd, 2026, 3.00 call accounted for 3,445 contracts; open interest is 1,834 contracts.
January 23rd, 2026, 2.50 put accounted for 2,704 contracts; open interest is 19,333 contracts.

New 52-week highs (328 new highs today): Intel Corp. (INTC + $0.27 to $47.58), High Roller Technologies Inc. (ROLR + $17.30 to $20.82), Vale S.A. (VALE + $0.35 to $14.46), Rocket Lab Corporation (RKLB + $1.57 to $88.15)

Notable Call Activity

Unusual call activity is noted today in Devon Energy Corp. (DVN + $1.41 to $38.28), as call volume currently stands at 49,341 contracts, 23x the average daily volume and 11x the put volume. Much of this morning's activity can be attributed to call selling in both February 20th and April 17th, 2026, expiration months. Traders have targeted the 40.00 strike in both months and have used multiple block orders to sell the strike primarily at the bid price. Collectively, over 27,000 contracts have traded at the 40.00 strike, between the two months. The February call sales appear to be new positions, given the open interest, while the April call sales could be closing or additions to current shorts. The open interest at that strike in April is rather large. Overall, there is a neutral to slightly bearish bias to these trades. Shares of DVN have rallied nearly 20% since October inching closer to the 52-week high price of $38.88.

Another name exhibiting unusual activity today is Plains All American. (PAA - $0.06 to $18.94), as call volume has spiked to 21,642 contracts in morning trading, 48x the average volume and 700x the put volume. Traders are buyers in both the May 15th and August 21st, 2026, expiration months, primarily at the 20.00 strike where over 17,500 contracts have traded collectively, primarily at or near the offer price. Volume today far exceeds the collective open interest of 4,200 contracts, so we know this represents new positioning (suggesting bullish intent). Share of PAA recently broke out of an ascending triangle pattern and are trading at their highest level since July of 2025.

Today's Bearish Activity

Shares of Rivian Automotive (RIVN - $1.76 to $17.09) are down around 9.00% today, down 25% in the past month, and now breaking below their 50-day SMA, after UBS downgraded the EV-maker to Sell from Neutral on "elevated expectations" and less favorable risk/reward. Per Bloomberg, UBS analyst Joseph Spak lowered his price rating on RIVN shares and took his price target to $15, after citing the stock price is prone to sentiment swings and has rallied since the company's autonomy and AI day as the market assigned more enthusiasm to their AI potential. Rivian hosted its AI & Autonomy day in December, unveiling Tesla-like plans for self-driving cars, as well as plans for the new lower-priced R2 model for later this year. Spak said he believes the AI-related updates show expectations surrounding the launch of the R2 "may be too high."

Today's UBS downgrade was the second of the week for RIVN shares, following Wolfe Research analyst Emmanuel Rosner placing a Sell rating on Monday. Rosner's price target is $16.

Option trading in RIVN currently stands at 233,162 contracts in morning trading, on pace for 3x the daily average, with calls outpacing puts 1.5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

February 20th, 2026, 17.00 put accounted for 14,447 contracts; open interest is 10,474 contracts.
January 16th, 2026, 17.50 put accounted for 13,480 contracts; open interest is 24,195 contracts
January 16th, 2026, 17.50 call accounted for 9,048 contracts; open interest is 22,322 contracts.

New 52-week lows (48 new lows today): Envue Medical Inc. (FEED - $0.59 to $1.73), ServiceNow Inc. (NOW - $3.38 to $134.81), Briacell Therapeutics Corp. (BCTX - $5.96 to $4.96), Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE - $4.58 to $305.35)

Notable Put Activity

There is unusual put activity today in Academy Sports & Outdoors (ASO - $0.44 to $55.57). This activity equates to over 6,062 put contracts, 20x average daily put volume and 40x today's call volume. Nearly all the volume can be attributed to a 1x2 ratio spread in the January 23rd, 2026, expiration month. Traders bought 2,000 of the 55.00 strike puts and sold 4,000 of the 50.00 strike puts in a single large block transaction. The spread was put on for a $0.76 credit. This particular transaction will maximize in value at the short strike, the 50.00 strike, if shares of ASO settle at that price on expiration. Shares of ASO have rallied over 30% in the past two months, so traders may be using this ratio put spread trade as a hedge against a pullback (suggesting bearish intent).

Unusual activity has also been detected in the iShares IBOXX Investment Grade Bond ETF (LQD + $0.23 to $110.97), as put volume stands at 389,111 contracts, 31x average volume and 35x call volume, in morning trading. Much of the volume can be attributed to a vertical put spread that was purchased in the February 20th, 2026, expiration month. Traders bought 139,305 of the February 110.00 strike puts and sold 139,305 of the February 108.00 strike puts for a debit of $0.30 when the bid/ask was $0.27 x $0.30. These appear to be new positions, given the collective open interest of 37,130 contracts (suggesting bearish intent). Interestingly, shares of LQD are attempting to break out above a descending triangle and just rallied above the 50-day SMA today for the first time since the end of November.

Gauging Volatility

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 1.60 to 17.58) is up by 10.08%, as equity markets are down markedly in morning trading (DJI - 265, SPX - 68, COMPX - 351). VIX movement has occurred within a wide range today (the intraday range is 16.22 to 18.10). The highest volume contract is currently the March 18th, 2026, 15.00 put (volume is 74,289 vs. open interest of 67,024).

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