Options flow · daily recap

Options flow recap, Oct 16, 2026: unusual options activity and the biggest trades

Data from the session · 20 tickers · published 8:00 AM ET, Oct 17

On Oct 16, 48% of the $1.83B in large option prints across the 20 tickers here was bought, where a side is known; 42% was in calls, a put/call premium ratio of 1.37.

QQQ led on Oct 16 with $325.5M, ahead of SPY ($284.1M) and MU ($185.8M).

On Oct 16 the most call-heavy was GOOGL (81% calls) and the most put-heavy IWM (90% puts).

Bought / sold48% / 52%
Calls / puts42% / 58%Put/call premium ratio 1.37
Total premium$1.83B4,133 large prints

All 20 tickers

TickerBoughtCalls / putsPremiumP/CPrints
QQQ
54%
37%
$325.5M
1.73832
SPY
54%
22%
$284.1M
3.46909
MU
40%
58%
$185.8M
0.74209
TSLA
44%
62%
$127.7M
0.60304
NVDA
49%
48%
$123.0M
1.09259
IWM
40%
10%
$99.9M
8.54190
AMD
41%
50%
$79.8M
1.02134
INTC
45%
47%
$78.9M
1.12179
META
32%
77%
$72.9M
0.30107
SPCX
44%
42%
$70.5M
1.36160
AAPL
45%
57%
$64.5M
0.76155
NBIS
52%
44%
$50.3M
1.3068
AVGO
60%
33%
$46.3M
2.0688
PLTR
61%
54%
$43.0M
0.8480
SMH
67%
24%
$41.3M
3.16108
AMZN
38%
62%
$32.4M
0.6298
CRWV
51%
33%
$31.8M
2.0187
GOOGL
32%
81%
$28.7M
0.2460
SOXL
59%
14%
$26.9M
6.3663
ORCL
53%
33%
$16.8M
1.9943

BoughtSoldCallsPuts

Largest trades by premium

On Oct 16, IWM's 5 largest prints carried the most premium, $31.8M (32% of its session), $8.1M of it bought.

  1. IWM$31.8M
  2. QQQ$29.7M
  3. NVDA$21.8M
  4. MU$21.0M
  5. SPY$20.9M
  6. NBIS$20.5M
  7. AAPL$17.6M
  8. SPCX$17.4M

BoughtSoldNo side

Sector rotation at the Oct 16 close

The close

At the Oct 16 close the S&P 500 (SPY) at 763.25 (−1.11%), the Dow (DIA) at 519.10 (−0.40%) and the NASDAQ 100 (QQQ) at 709.80 (−2.50%), with the VIX at 19.99.

DOW (DIA)519.10−0.40%
S&P 500 (SPY)763.25−1.11%
NASDAQ (QQQ)709.80−2.50%
VIX19.99+21.45%

Where money rotated

On Oct 16, 6 of 12 sectors rose and 10 of 12 beat the S&P 500; over the week money left Technology for Consumer Staples and Energy.

1DOut ofTechnologyIntoEnergyUtilities
1WOut ofTechnologyIntoCons. StaplesEnergy
Sectors up6/12
Beat S&P10/12

LeadingImprovingWeakeningLagging

Quadrant crossings

Comm. SvcsLeadingImproving

Communication Services moved from Leading to Improving on Oct 16: strength still below average, but momentum rising.

Sub-sectors against the S&P 500, 1W

In the week to Oct 16, IT Services (Technology) led the S&P 500 by 9.6 points, while Semicon Equip (Technology) trailed it by 16.3 points.

  1. IT Services+9.6
  2. Alcohol+9.1
  3. Telecom+8.8
  4. Semicon Equip−16.3
  5. Cybersecurity−11.2
  6. Hardware−9.6

Breadth: names above their 50-day average

At the Oct 16 close, Energy had the most names above their 50-day average (75%) and Communication Services the fewest (22%).

  1. Energy75%
  2. Utilities71%
  3. Cons. Staples68%
  4. Health Care68%
  5. Materials43%
  6. Financials41%
  7. Technology39%
  8. Cons. Disc.37%
  9. Industrials28%
  10. Real Estate27%
  11. Comm. Svcs22%

Risk appetite

As of the Oct 16 close the gauges read stressed and narrow: credit shows strain; small caps trail the S&P 500.

  1. Credit−2.1 stressed
  2. VIX term1.01 even
  3. Cyclicals−4.5 risk-off
  4. Small caps−5.0 narrow
  5. Equal weight+0.6 even

20 sessions; VIX term at its close. It describes the market, not a forecast.

Standout, 20 sessions

Over the 20 sessions to Oct 16, Cruise in Consumer Discretionary was the strongest S&P 500 group (+13.0% median, +12.8 points against the S&P 500), and CCL its strongest name above its 50-day average (+18.6%).

Leading sectorEnergyLeading
#1 sub-sectorCruise+13.0%
Standout nameCCL+18.6%

It shows where money has been going, not a forecast.

The live rotation, its chart and the full sector tables are in MomoEdge.

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Totals cover the large and unusual option prints the MomoEdge feed records in a session, not every trade. Bought means more of a print's premium traded at the ask than at the bid; sold, the reverse. Pages update at 8:00 AM ET on the morning after each trading session. Educational content, not financial advice. Market data from licensed third-party providers.