According to CNBC, options traders opened September by piling into bullish bets on Robinhood Markets, Palantir Technologies, Tesla and SpaceX, with calls outpacing puts by at least 2-to-1 in each name. Trading volume was above average in the four stocks, and the Cboe Volatility Index (VIX) was below 15 as implied volatility fell in both the S&P 500 and single stocks.
Robinhood saw the strongest bullish flow, with calls trading more than twice as heavily as puts and nearly three times as many calls bought as puts. Palantir also drew elevated activity, with options volume near double the average daily level and traders buying twice as many calls as puts. In Tesla and SpaceX, traders were also buying twice as many calls as puts ahead of Tesla's Cybercab event in Austin, Texas. SpaceX retook the $150 level, which it had not closed above since early July, while its 30-day implied volatility fell to the 4th percentile and about half its historical average since going public June 12.
Charles Moon, a momentum trading specialist at Prosper Trading Academy, said Bitcoin's rally has helped Robinhood and that Snowflake was the catalyst for Palantir, adding that retail traders are becoming more aggressive.