Market Overview

Wall Street ended sharply lower and gold surged to record highs on Tuesday(Mar. 18) as the U.S. Federal Reserve convened for its two-day monetary policy meeting while economic uncertainty mounted.

Regarding the options market, a total volume of 39,889,520 contracts was traded.

Top 10 Option Volumes

Top 10: Nvidia, Tesla, CBOE Volatility Index, Intel, Apple, Amazon, Palantir, Meta, Strategy, Nio

Shares of Tesla Motors dropped 5.3% Tuesday. A fresh set of headlines may have given investors fresh reasons to sell, with Chinese electric vehicle maker BYD unveiling an ultra-fast charger it claims can deliver a full charge in as little as five minutes and some Wall Street analysts offering up skeptical takes on the stock.

RBC Capital cut its price target for Tesla to $320 from $440 on Tuesday, citing a worsening outlook for its self-driving technology and robotaxi rollout in China and Europe, according to reporting from MarketWatch. Tesla’s Full Self-Driving system has yet to receive Chinese approval.

There are 2.16 million Tesla Motors option contracts traded on Tuesday. Put options account for 54% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $220 strike put option expiring Mar. 21, with 105,364 contracts trading. The $220 strike put option expiring this Friday surged 106% on Tuesday.

U.S.-listed shares of NIO Inc. advanced 3% Tuesday when the electric vehicle (EV) maker and the world's biggest battery manufacturer, Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, agreed to develop a battery swapping network across China to help drivers avoid recharging slowdowns.

There are 308.73K NIO Inc. option contracts traded on Tuesday. Call options account for 69% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $5.5 strike call option expiring Mar. 21, with 29,125 contracts trading. $NIO 20250321 5.5 CALL$

Unusual Options Activity

D-Wave Quantum Inc. shares fell 3.4% on Tuesday as quantum stocks experienced volatility ahead of NVIDIA’s Quantum Day, which is set to take place during the Nvidia GPU Technology Conference (GTC) this week.

Despite overall investor excitement surrounding the Nvidia conference, quantum stocks including D-Wave, have seen increased volatility, with some analysts warning of pump-and-dump schemes and short squeezes in the sector.

A panel discussion featuring D-Wave Quantum, IonQ and Rigetti Computing is set to take place on Thursday.

There are 236.60K D-Wave Quantum Inc. option contracts traded on Tuesday. Call options account for 64% of overall option trades. Particularly high volume was seen for the $12 strike call option expiring Mar. 21, 2025, with 15,640 contracts trading. $QBTS 20250321 12.0 CALL$

TOP Bullish & Bearish Single Stocks

This report shows stocks with the highest volume of bullish and bearish activity by option delta volume, which converts option volume to an equivalent stock volume (bought or sold).

If we take the total positive option delta volume and subtract the total negative option delta volume, we will get the net imbalance. If the net imbalance is positive, there is more bullish pressure. If the net is negative, there is more bearish pressure.

Based on option delta volume, traders sold a net equivalent of -1,400,081 shares of Alibaba stock. The largest bearish delta came from selling calls. The largest delta volume came from the 19-Dec-25 Call, with traders getting short 631,527 deltas on the single option contract.

Top 10 bullish stocks: Nvidia, First Majestic Silver, Alamos, US Steel, Tiger Brokers, Banco Santander, Corning, NextDecade, Block, Rivian

Top 10 bearish stocks: Rigetti Computing, Alibaba, Quantum Computing, D-Wave Quantum, Ford, NIO, Meta, American Airlines, Pfizer, AdaptHealth

If you are interested in options and you want to:

• Share experiences and ideas on options trading.

• Read options-related market updates/insights.

• Learn more about options trading if you are a beginner in this field.

Please click to join Tiger Options Club