Today's Options Market Update

There's no sign of Santa Claus yet on Wall Street after three straight losing sessions for the S&P 500 index and a somewhat gloomy jobs report. The traditional "Santa Claus rally" theoretically occurs the last five sessions of the old year and first two of the new year, meaning there's still time. It's unclear if Tuesday's sudden pop in tech after weeks of rotation out of that sector has traction but today might provide clues as major indexes rose modestly overnight, led by several tech names.

Chipmaker Micron (MU) reports after the close today, followed by FedEx (FDX) and Nike (NKE) late tomorrow. FedEx and Nike provide a look at consumer demand after a mixed October retail sales report Tuesday found evidence of resilient shoppers. Other possible catalysts include rate decisions tomorrow and Friday from the European Central Bank (ECB) and Bank of Japan (BOJ). Analysts expect the ECB to hold rates steady and the BOJ to hike. Back home, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller—a possible candidate for Fed chairman—told CNBC today the labor market is soft but could rebound next year and that the Fed can continue lowering rates at a moderate pace.

In trading yesterday, Wall Street wavered after nonfarm payrolls showed unemployment at 4.6%, the highest since 2021, and underwhelming jobs growth. Though the broader market fell, the Nasdaq rose as downtrodden shares of Nvidia (NVDA), Oracle (ORCL), and Broadcom (AVGO) found buyers. Thursday's November Consumer Price Index (CPI) is the next major economic reading, at 8:30 a.m. ET. Analysts expect headline and core CPI to each rise 0.3% in November, with core excluding food and energy, according to Briefing.com. That compares with 0.3% and 0.2% in September and a goose egg in October when the government was shuttered and didn't collect data. Waller doesn't expect inflation to re-accelerate, and Treasury yields slipped slightly after his comments while the dollar rose.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is unchanged at 4.15%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is higher by 0.20% at 98.34.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is up by 5.22% to 17.34.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 1.60% to $56.01/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) is falling by 1.14% to $86,790.

Ethereum (ETH) is down by 3.18% at $2,660.

Shares of Iovance Biotherapeutics (IOVA + $0.30 to $2.55) are up over 13.00%, in morning trading, after the company reported it plans to advance a clinical program evaluating lifileucel, an autologous tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) adoptive cell therapy, for a range of advanced solid tumors including melanoma, endometrial cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, and non-small cell lung cancer, per Bloomberg. The program will span Phase 2 to Phase 3 trials, with the most advanced trial expected to reach primary completion by March 01, 2028.

Barclays was positive on the report, maintaining its overweight rating and raising its price target on IOVA shares to $10 from $9. That's nearly 300% higher than the current share price of $2.55.

Option trading in IOVA currently stands at 8,604 contracts, 5x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts nearly 11:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• January 16th, 2026, 3.50 call accounted for 2,630 contracts; open interest is 2,847 contracts.
• January 16th, 2026, 2.50 call accounted for 1,108 contracts; open interest is 13,079 contracts.
• December 19th, 2025, 2.50 call accounted for 859 contracts; open interest is 3,530 contracts.

New 52-week highs (349 new highs today): Rivian Automotive Inc. (RIVN + $2.58 to $19.01), Planet Labs (PL + $0.36 to $17.83), Discovery Inc (WBD + $0.34 to $29.83), Bank of America Corp. (BAC + $0.16 to $54.72)

Unusual call activity is noted today in Frontier Group Holdings (ULCC + $0.12 to $5.23), as call volume currently stands at 8,192 contracts, 6x the average daily volume and 130x the put volume. Activity is greatest in the December 19th, 2025, and January 16th, 2026, expiration months, where over 8,000 contracts have traded. In what appears to be a call diagonal, traders are closing out of longs in December, specifically at the 5.00 strike, and rolling those long call positions to the January 7.00 strike. The transaction results in an average credit price of $0.20, and allows the traders to maintain their long call positions, suggesting bullish intent, but at a lower cost and lower delta. Confirming recent speculation, it was announced earlier this week that Frontier and Spirit Airlines could be pursuing a merger.

Another name exhibiting unusual activity today is Arcelormittal (MT - $0.21 to $45.50), as call volume has spiked to 11,139 contracts in morning trading, 8x the average volume and 350x the put volume. Traders are "legging into" a call ratio 1x2 in the January 16th, 2026, expiration month. Up to this point, they've purchased 3,600 of the 47.00 strike calls and sold 7,200 of the 55.00 strike calls at an average price of $0.90. The 47.00 strike call represents new positioning while the 55.00 calls were likely closing trades to prior positions, given their open interest. This may suggest traders want the additional deltas of the lower strike, as MT shares appear to be breaking out from a wedge pattern and just set a 52-week high price of $46.60 last Friday.

Shares of Vistagen Therapeutics (VTGN - $3.50 to $0.86) are down a whopping 80% today, to a record low, after the drug developer said a late-stage trial of its experimental treatment for social anxiety disorder failed to meet its primary goal. Per the study, which tested whether a single dose of its drug fasedienol could reduce anxiety during a public speaking challenge, the Phase 3 study of intranasal fasedienol for the acute treatment of social anxiety disorder did not demonstrate a statistically significant improvement on the primary endpoint of change on the Subjective Units of Distress Scale (SUDS).

Analysts sounded the alarm following the news with Stifel cutting its rating to a hold from a buy and slashing its PT to $1 from $12. William Blair cuts its rating to market perform from outperform while Maxim cut its rating to hold from buy and removed its price target recommendation.

Option trading in VTGN currently stands at 18,512 contracts in morning trading, on pace for 7x the daily average, with calls and puts basically even. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• January 16th, 2026, 2.00 put accounted for 2,392 contracts; open interest is 8,037 contracts.
• December 19th, 2025, 1.00 call accounted for 1,8026 contracts; open interest is 17 contracts.
• December 19th, 2025, 3.00 put accounted for 1,670 contracts; open interest is 4,205 contracts.

New 52-week lows (33 new lows today): Cracker Barrel (CBRL - $1.36 to $25.64), Kosmos Energy Ltd. (KOS - $0.05 to $1.02), The Campbell's Company (CPB - $0.49 to $27.98), Lakeland Industrial Inc. (LAKE - $6.55 to $8.46)

There is unusual put activity today in Avantor Inc. (AVTR + $0.08 to $11.28). This activity equates to over 73,049 put contracts, 470x average daily put volume and 800x today's call volume. Nearly half of the volume can be attributed to a large block trade in the January 16th, 2026, expiration, specifically at the 9.00 strike put. Traders sold 29,120 contracts in a single trade for $0.05. Since there were only 167 contracts of open interest, we know this represents new positioning (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). It's not often you see an opening trade of that size for such a low credit premium, so it's possible the trader is looking to establish a long stock position at the $9.00 price level in AVTR and would prefer the put sale to a resting stock limit order.

Unusual activity has also been detected in Zoominfo Technologies (GTM + $0.34 to $10.29), as put volume stands at 16,183 contracts in morning trading, 120x average daily volume and 2x the call volume. Half of the volume comes from the 9.00 strike in the February 20th, 2026, expiration month. In two large block orders, traders sold a total of 8,200 contracts for an average price of $0.22. With only 22 contracts of open interest, we know this represents new positioning (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of GTM have traded within a wide range of $9.00 to $12.00 since early August. It's possible traders believe the $9.00 low will represent a continued bottom end of that range, given their activity.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 0.86 to 17.34) is up by 5.22%, as equity markets are down in morning trading (DJI - 149, SPX - 59, COMPX - 292). VIX movement has occurred within a wide range today (the intraday range is 15.82 to 17.66). The highest volume contract is currently the January 21st, 2026, 15.50 put (volume is 64,278 vs. open interest of 26,172).