Options volume erupts in retail trading favorites as Robinhood, Tesla surge — SkimNews
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- Options volume surged above average Thursday across retail favorites Robinhood, Palantir, Tesla, and SpaceX, with Tesla and SpaceX ranking as the top- and fourth-most traded stocks by options volume respectively.
- Trading flows were discernably bullish across all four names, with calls outpacing puts by at least 2 to 1 and puts being sold more than bought in each.
- Robinhood Markets saw the most outwardly bullish action of the session, with calls trading more than twice as heavily as puts and nearly three times as many calls bought relative to puts on more than triple its average daily trading volume; the stock turned positive on the year after Thursday's surge.
- Palantir Technologies options ranked in the top 10 most traded single-stock options on nearly double the average daily volume, with traders buying twice as many calls as puts and more puts sold than bought.
- Tesla traders bought calls at twice the rate of puts, with puts being sold more than bought, ahead of the company's Cybercab event Thursday evening in Austin, Texas.
- SpaceX retaken the key $150 level — its first close above that since early July — while its 30-day implied volatility sits in just the 4th percentile, about half its historical average since its June 12 public debut.
- Charles Moon of Prosper Trading Academy attributed the activity to specific catalysts, noting that Bitcoin's rally helped Robinhood and Snowflake's move catalyzed Palantir, and that retail traders 'just need a reason to be' aggressive.
Why it matters: Retail traders piled into calls at a 2-to-1 ratio over puts across Robinhood, Tesla, SpaceX, and Palantir as the VIX sat below 15 and implied volatility hit multi-month lows. With Robinhood trading at triple average volume, cheap options plus aggressive bullish bets can amplify stock moves — SpaceX's 4th-percentile 30-day IV makes those calls historically cheap.
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