Today's Options Market Update

The weekend approaches with war tensions mounting and investors shying from risk. Stocks hit nearly seven-month lows Thursday in the worst session since the war began and slid again early today as war raged without signs of a resolution. Brent crude climbed back above $110 per barrel and U.S. Treasury yields rallied to nearly nine-month highs on inflation fears. Major indexes are on pace for the fifth straight lower week, a streak last achieved during the miserable market year of 2022.

Next week is another light one for earnings, aside from consumer bellwether Nike (NKE) late Tuesday. That's also the end of the quarter, meaning "window dressing" could be an element Monday and Tuesday. That's when fund managers shift positions to add better-performing names and drop worse ones before the quarter ends and sometimes leads to choppy trading. There's also a series of labor market readings culminating in the April 3 nonfarm payrolls report for March.

On Thursday, major indexes plunged and the Nasdaq Composite entered correction territory down 10% from recent highs as chip stocks and Meta Platforms (META) came under intense pressure. Volume was low, suggesting weak conviction, and the chip side of the market could be worth watching for clues to overall sentiment. Late Thursday, President Trump extended his deadline of a threat against Iranian energy facilities to April 6. Markets initially welcomed the news, but quickly returned to their bearish ways, raising questions about how much credence Wall Street now gives such posts. Headlines of more U.S. troops heading to the region could keep caution a theme going into the weekend.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is unchanged at 4.41%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is higher by 0.19% to 100.09.

The CBOE Volatility Index^® (VIX) is higher by 8.45% to 29.76.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is higher by 4.25% to $98.50/barrel.

Bitcoin (BTC) is down by 3.53% to $66,340.

Ethereum (ETH) is down by 2.73% to $1,997.

Shares of Unity Software (U + $1.33 to $18.46) are higher today by over 7.00%, after the company announced a better-than-expected revenue forecast for the current Q1, with anticipated revenue in the range of $505 million to $508 million. Adjusted EBITDA for Q1 2026 was also above guidance, as Unity said it expects that figure to come in around $130 Million to $135 Million, compared to guidance of $105 Million to $110 Million, representing year-over-year growth of 58%. Per the report, the results showed significant strength in Vector, up 15%, the company's AI-driven advertising unit. In addition to the raised guidance, Unity also announced it will sunset its ironSource Ads Network and begin a divestiture of its Supersonic game publishing business, per Bloomberg. According the William Blair analyst David Becker, "this decision streamlines the company's operating portfolio, which should support faster top-line revenue growth and improved profitability." Option trading in U currently stands at 64,919 contracts, 13x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts 3:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• April 2nd, 2026, 22.00 call accounted for 8,605 contracts; open interest is 11,487 contracts.
• April 2nd, 2026, 20.00 call accounted for 6,571 contracts; open interest is 525 contracts.
• April 2nd, 2026, 23.00 call accounted for 6,083 contracts; open interest is 432 contracts.

New 52-week highs (117 new highs today): Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE + $0.11 to $4.33), Transocean Inc. (RIG + $0.13 to $7.01), Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM + $4.75 to $170.18), Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI + $0.41 to $34.48)

Unusual call activity is noted today in Patterson-Uti Energy (PTEN + $0.25 to $11.51), as call volume currently stands at 19,773 contracts, 60x the average daily volume and 190x put volume. Nearly all the volume stems from a large block call purchase in the August 21st, 2026, expiration month. Traders paid $1.62 for a block order of 19,438 of the 12.00 strike calls when the bid/ask was $1.25 x $1.70. With only 447 contracts of open interest, it's fair to assume these are new positions (suggesting bullish intent).  Shares of PTEN have rallied substantially of late, up 87% year-to-date to set a 52-week high price of $11.52 in today's morning trade.

Another name exhibiting unusual call activity today is Entergy Corp. (ETR + $7.38 to $110.24), as call volume has risen to 3,857 contracts in morning trading, 33x the average volume and 5x the put volume. Nearly all the volume can be attributed to the April 17th, 2026, expiration month, where the 110.00 strike is the most active. While trading has been two-sided, most of the directional volume has been to the sell side, suggesting traders may be fading today's jump in shares. Shares of ETR set a 52-week high price of $110.81 in morning trading after the company announced it reached a new agreement with Meta Platforms, Inc., to build enough gas plants to provide a total of 5.2 gigawatts of electricity for Meta's data center expansion plans.

Shares of Burford Capital Ltd (BUR - $3.08 to $4.75) are down over 39.00% today, trading at a 52-week low, after a U.S. appeals court reversed a ruling ordering Argentina to pay over the seizure of state-run oil company YPF SA, with the court saying the Manhattan judge wrongly ruled in favor of former shareholders. Burford along with other plaintiffs had initially won $16.1 billion, but the appellate court today ruled that the Manhattan judge who oversaw the initial trial wrongly ruled in favor of Burford and the other shareholders, per Bloomberg. Burford and the other plaintiffs now must appeal to the full Second Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court, in order to have any chance of collecting on the sum.

Option trading in BUR currently stands at 13,483 contracts, 29x the average daily volume with calls outpacing puts 1.5:1. Leading the way are the following trades, expirations, and strikes:

• May 15th, 2026, 7.50 put accounted for 2,210 contracts; open interest is 2,003 contracts.
• May 15th, 2026, 7.50 call accounted for 1,174 contracts; open interest is 65 contracts.
• April 17th, 2026, 7.50 call accounted for 897 contracts; open interest is 200 contracts.

New 52-week lows (256 new lows today): Onconetix Inc. (ONCO - $0.85 to $2.37), Burford Capital Ltd (BUR - $3.08 to $4.75), Snap Inc. (SNAP - $0.06 to $3.94), Nuscale Power Corp. (SMR - $0.66 to $10.33)

There is unusual put activity today in Klarna Group (KLAR - $0.41 to $12.44). This activity equates to over 23,680 put contracts, 33x average daily put volume and 20x the call volume. Nearly all the put activity can be attributed to a large block buy orders in the April 17th, 2026, expiration month. Traders bought over 23,000 of the 12.50 strike puts at an average price of $0.95 when the bid/ask was $0.85 x $0.95. There were already 7,091 contracts of open interest, so this trade could be an addition to a long put position (suggesting bearish intent). What's interesting is that traders bought the at-the-money strike puts with 21 days till expiration, even with shares of KLAR posting a 52-week low price of $12.25 in early morning trading. There may be a belief that more downside is likely.

Unusual activity has also been detected in Galaxy Digital Inc. (GLXY - $1.24 to $18.37), as put volume stands at 15,183 contracts, 12x average volume and 5x call volume, in morning trading. A large put vertical spread in the April 2nd, 2026, expiration is responsible for most of today's volume. A total of 6,266 of the 18.50/17.50 put vertical spreads were sold (12,532 contracts total) for a price of $0.40 when the bid/ask was $0.34 x $0.50, so slightly below the bid. We know this represents new positioning, as the collective open interest between the strikes was 676 contracts (suggesting neutral to bullish intent). Shares of GLXY are down around 60% since posting a 52-week high price of $45.92 back in October.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 2.32 to 29.76) is higher by 8.45% today, as equity markets are lower across the board morning trading (DJI - 442, SPX - 62, COMPX - 303). VIX movement has occurred within a wider range today (the intraday range is 27.54 to 30.33). The highest volume contract is currently the April 15th, 2026, 30.00 call (volume is 25,769 vs. open interest of 282,376).