What happened in this Finance story?

Options traders flooded Alphabet and Microsoft with bullish call bets on Wednesday as softer inflation data pushed the Nasdaq within 1% of its all-time high, with volume running more than 50% above the 30-day average in both names.

What is a key fact in this story? (1)

**Alphabet** options volume ran more than 50% above the 30-day average Wednesday after a softer-than-expected inflation print lifted equities, with total call volume more than double put-trading — nearly 150,000 calls likely initiated by buyers versus fewer than 100,000 calls sold and 50,000 puts bought.

What is a key fact in this story? (2)

**Alphabet's** top 20 dollar-amount transactions skewed unusually bullish — 14 bullish, 4 neutral, 2 bearish — with more than $260 million in premium traded by midday and over $200 million tied to calls; the biggest purchase was in-the-money 250-strike calls expiring June 2026.

📎 SkimNews has covered Microsoft 110+ times · see the file →

Two trades that just happened in 'Magnificent Seven' stocks point to big gains ahead — SkimNews

By CNBC · Summarized & edited by Kapil Samant · 2026-09-30

Get the Finance newsletter

Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.

Alphabet options volume ran more than 50% above the 30-day average Wednesday after a softer-than-expected inflation print lifted equities, with total call volume more than double put-trading — nearly 150,000 calls likely initiated by buyers versus fewer than 100,000 calls sold and 50,000 puts bought.
Alphabet's top 20 dollar-amount transactions skewed unusually bullish — 14 bullish, 4 neutral, 2 bearish — with more than $260 million in premium traded by midday and over $200 million tied to calls; the biggest purchase was in-the-money 250-strike calls expiring June 2026.
Additional heavy Alphabet call-buying hit 370-strike Nov. 20 calls and 350-strike near-the-money calls expiring Friday, with the 370-strikes priced at $11.40 each and requiring a 9% rally to pay off.
Microsoft traders bought more than 130,000 calls versus fewer than 52,000 puts, with net delta exposure showing a preference for shares to rise; nearly $500 million in options traded, with $400 million in calls and $220 million likely purchased.
Microsoft added 1.8% Wednesday, and one speculative $12 million trade bought 3,000 in-the-money 500-strike Dec. 18 calls while selling about $2 million of 600-strikes, creating a bullish spread with a breakeven near $530 — about 2.3% above current levels and a new closing high for the stock.

Why it matters: Combined Alphabet and Microsoft call volume topped $600 million in premium, with positioning skewed so heavily bullish that Alphabet's top trades were unusually one-sided even by Magnificent Seven standards. A $530 breakeven on the flagged Microsoft spread implies traders are staking real capital on a fresh all-time high, not just continued drift — a concrete upside target after months without a breakout since May.