1. $SMH puts are running the show today, put/call sitting at 3.5 to 1. The $550 puts for July 24 are pulling almost 6x their open interest and the $600 puts expiring Friday already carry 26k OI, IV running 50-67% across the strikes. That's hedge money, not necessarily a bearish bet, but the crowd's clearly paying up to protect the semis trade here. If $SMH holds these levels it's wasted premium for the put buyers, if it cracks, that's exactly what the insurance was for.
2. Yesterday $MU options were on fire, that $850 put running 138% IV. Today the whole chain around $900-920 settled into the high 50s, still rich but nothing like the panic pricing from a day ago. Calls are leading the tape now (P/C 0.66), prime renting-out-the-house territory if you're holding shares, just don't expect yesterday's premiums.
3. $AMD's $550 calls are pricing 66% IV against just 443 contracts of open interest, that's a lot of premium for barely any existing position. Feels like fresh money leaning into a move, maybe something on the calendar. Juicy premium if you're selling calls against shares here, just size it like something's actually coming.
Aggregated and distilled by Two Sentence Traders. Not financial advice.