1. Spot is $196.62 and the crowd shifted the action from $200 down to the $197.5 calls today: 347k contracts vs 8k OI, a 43-to-1 vol/OI ratio right on expiry. The $200 calls are still bid at 37% IV, running noticeably hotter than the surrounding strikes sitting at 20-24%. The crowd is paying for the shot at $200. If it gets there, gamma does the rest. If it doesn't, the lottery tickets expire and we do this again next week.
2. $SMH is running a 6.65:1 put/call ratio today. The $540 puts (July 17) printed 45k contracts against 53k OI, and the $555 puts (July 10) nearly matched their 20k OI dollar for dollar. Spot is $608, those strikes are a long way down, but someone keeps paying up for that protection. Semis are hedged, and staying hedged.
3. $AMD is running 83-87% IV across the July 10 strikes, with $600 OTM calls printing 10k contracts vs 4.4k OI. $MU is even richer at 114-116% IV near the $1000 strike. Both names are offering real premium right now. If you're in the volatility-farming game, these two are worth a look.
Aggregated and distilled by Two Sentence Traders. Not financial advice.