The Options Market Overview page provides a snapshot of today's market activity and recent news affecting the options markets.
The page starts updating for the new trading day at approximately 9:50a.m. ET. Options information is delayed approximately 25 to 30 minutes, and is updated approximately every 5-minutes through-out the trading day.
Note: Expired options are removed from the website Monday - Friday at 7:45pm ET.
Unusual Options Activity
Unusual Options Activity identifies options contracts that are trading at a higher volume relative to the contract's open interest. Unusual Options can prove insight on what "smart money" is doing with large volume orders, signaling new positions and potentially a big move in the underlying Stock or ETF. Options can be considered bullish when a call is purchased at the ask price and Options can be considered bearish when a call is sold at the bid price.
Options News
Get commentary on the Options market from industry experts.
Most Active Options
Shows symbols with the most option activity on the day, with IV Rank and Put/Call ratio.
Covered Calls
A Covered Call or buy-write strategy is used to increase returns on long positions, by selling call options in an underlying security you own. Profit is limited to strike price of the short call option minus the purchase price of the underlying security, plus the premium received. Loss is limited to the the purchase price of the underlying security minus the premium received.
The covered call strategy is useful to generate additional income if you do not expect much movement in the price of the underlying security.
Options Put/Call Ratios
Use put / call ratios to time market tops and bottoms.
"Normal" activity is generally 3 calls to 2 puts, or a ratio of 0.60.
Low numbers (less the 0.7) are considered bullish (more calls are being traded), while high numbers (greater than 1.3) are considered bearish (more puts are being traded.)
Index Options
Shows Indices with the most option activity on the day, with IV Rank and Put/Call ratio.
