Today's Options Market Update

New tariffs hit imports from dozens of countries today and reached 100% on semiconductors, but the market took it in stride and stocks initially opened higher. The "cup half full" focus was on exemptions, including for chips made by companies with at least some U.S. production. Also, China posted better-than-expected import and export data last month despite tariff tensions, suggesting world trade isn't slumping.

Stocks also climbed on rate cut hopes. The latest batch of Federal Reserve speakers—including Neel Kashkari, the Minneapolis Fed president who's often considered a hawk—sounded more dovish. "Despite inflation pressure, tariffs and immigration policy are leading to slower job growth and consumer spending, which may prompt the Fed to cut interest rates soon," said Kathy Jones, chief fixed income strategist at Schwab. "We expect the Fed to put a higher priority on the faltering economy and slowdown in job growth than on the current level of inflation, on the assumption that slower growth will cap inflation."

Major indexes revived Wednesday after Tuesday's spill, but it wasn't a broad rally as five of 11 S&P 500 sectors lost ground and fewer than half of S&P 500 stocks rose. Apple (AAPL) enjoyed its best day since May yesterday with gains of more than 5% after it announced plans to invest another $100 billion in the U.S. on top of $500 billion it's already committed to. In other news today, weekly initial jobless claims rose 7,000 to 226,000, still relatively low, but continuing claims jumped to 1.974 million, a nearly four-year high and another hint that it's harder to find jobs. Tariff focus appears to be hampering conviction in Thursday afternoon trading.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is higher by ~3 basis points to 4.25%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is higher by 0.20 to 98.38.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) is lower by 0.34% to $64.13/barrel.

Gold prices have traded in a range of $3,430.00-$3,470.30, last seen trading higher by 0.53% to $3,451.70/oz.

Natural Gas prices have traded in a range of $3.055-3.148 and were last seen trading higher by 0.58% to $3.095.

Bitcoin (BTC) is higher by ~1.42% today to $116,559.90.

Leading the point gainers list this morning is Duolingo Inc. (DUOL + $97.34 to $440.95) after the mobile learning platform reported Q2 EPS of $0.91 ($0.32 beat) on revenue that rose 41.5% year-over-year to $252.27M (above the $240.65M expected). The company also issued upside guidance as Q3 revenue is expected to come in a range of $257-261M (above the $252.92M FactSet consensus estimate) and full-year 2025 (FY25) revenue is expected to come in a range of $1.011-1.019B (above the $996.47M FactSet consensus estimates). Calls are outnumbering puts ~2:1 with the August 15^th 360.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 3,661).

Also trading to the upside this morning is Celsius Holdings Inc. (CELH + $9.02 to $51.76) after the beverage maker reported Q2 earnings of $0.47 per share, excluding non-recurring items ($0.26 beat) on revenue that rose 83.9% year-over-year to $739.3M (above the $655.70M FactSet consensus estimate). The company said that its acquisition of health and wellness company Alani Nu contributed $301.2M to total revenue. Calls are outnumbering puts ~2:1, but the August 8^th 50.00 put is seeing the most action from traders (volume is 3,240).

New 52-week highs (127 new highs today): Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO + $0.11 to $69.32), DoorDash Inc. (DASH + $13.51 to $271.59), MP Materials Corp. (MP + $1.96 to $69.47)

Some unusual call activity (~100:1 calls over puts) is being seen in AI-powered software maker Intapp Inc. (INTA - $2.84 to $37.16) which is primarily being driven by a 1,000 contract block that was bought on the December 19^th 50.00 call for $1.05 when the bid/ask spread was $0.10 x $1.45 (open interest is 12). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and we can assume that the intent is bullish in nature since the trades took place above the midpoint of the bid/ask spread.

Leading the point decliners list this morning is Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY - $111.27 to $635.10) after the drug maker reported strong earnings but reported disappointing results for its oral weight loss drug, orforglipron. Regarding earnings, LLY reported Q2 earnings of $6.31 per share, excluding non-recurring items ($0.71 beat) on revenue that rose 37.6% year-over-year to $15.56B (above the $14.7B FactSet consensus estimate). However, a late-stage study on orforglipron showed that patients lost 12.4% of body weight, which is below the ~14% weight loss investors were expecting (according to analysts at Bernstein). Calls are slightly outnumbering puts. but the August 8^th 600.00 put is the highest volume contract (volume is 4,518).

Also trading to the downside this morning is Crocs Inc. (CROX - $26.39 to $78.74) after the casual footwear maker beat quarterly estimates but issued downside guidance earlier this morning, The company reported Q2 earnings of $4.23 per share ($0.23 beat) on revenue that rose 3.4% year-over-year to $1.15B (slightly above the $1.14B FactSet consensus estimate). Looking ahead, the company said that Q3 revenue is expected to decline 9-11% year-over-year, or ~$945-966M, which is below the $1.06B FactSet consensus estimate. Calls and puts are trading roughly even with the January 2026 100.00 call leading the way (volume is 3,578).

New 52-week lows (63 new lows today): Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR - $3.73 to $258.31), Exact Sciences Corp. (EXAS - $5.11 to $41.80), Post Holdings Inc. (POST - $1.13 to $101.31)

Some unusual put activity (~9:1 puts over calls) is being seen in Onestream Inc. (OS - $1.10 to $22.28) as option traders primarily target the August 15^th 22.50 put. Volume on this contract is 1,218 versus open interest of 225, so we know that the volume primarily represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought around the same time at the ask price of $1.60 each, which suggests bearish intent.

Solventum Corp. (SOLV - $0.76 to $71.81): Option volume is running at ~64x the daily average on this healthcare company which is primarily being driven by a 2,200 contract block that was bought on the September 19^th 75.00 call at the ask price of $2.60 (open interest is 32). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and we can assume that the intent is bullish in nature since the trades took place at the ask price.

Warner Music Group Corp. (WMG + $1.16 to $31.20): Option volume is running at ~61x the daily average on this music entertainment company which is primarily being driven by activity on the January 2027 37.00 call. Volume on this contract is 4,820 versus open interest of 15, so it’s likely that nearly all the volume represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.85-1.75 each, which suggests bullish intent.

89Bio Inc. (ETNB - $0.38 to $9.10): Option volume is running at ~13x the daily average on this clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company which is primarily being driven by a 2,000 contract block that was bought on the November 21^st 12.50 call for $0.85 when the bid/ask spread was $0.00 x $1.25 (open interest is 19). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and we can assume that the intent is bullish in nature since the trades took place above the midpoint of the bid/ask spread.

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 0.44 to 17.21) has been on both sides of the unchanged line today (intraday range is 15.98-17.41), as equity markets are lower across the board around the midday mark (DJI - 369, SPX - 24, COMP - 9). VIX option volume is below average today as the index is currently missing from the "Top Volume by Underlying" list. The volume put/call ratio is currently 0.40, but the highest volume contract is the August 20^th 16.00 put (volume is 40,490 vs. open interest of 302,126).