Option Movers | SPY's $39 Million Put Calendar Reveals Bearish Institutional Bias; SK Hynix Sees $1.93 Million OTM Put Sale

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Tuesday (Aug 18) with semiconductors leading technology declines as Middle East uncertainty ​pushed bond yields to multiyear peaks, feeding concerns about borrowing costs and inflation.

Regarding the options market, a total volume of 64,003,109 contracts was traded, of which 55% were call options.

Top 10 Option Volumes

Top 10: $NVIDIA(NVDA)$, $Tesla(TSLA)$, $Apple(AAPL)$, $Intel(INTC)$, $Micron Technology(MU)$, $Meta Platforms(META)$, $SpaceX(SPCX)$, $Amazon.com(AMZN)$, $AMD(AMD)$, $Netflix(NFLX)$

$SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust(SPY)$ closed at $767.45 on Tuesday, slipping 0.68%. Despite the modest decline, the options market flashed a distinctly defensive tone.

SPY’s implied volatility is 16.09%, and with an IV percentile of 23.90%, current option volatility sits on the low side of its recent range, indicating that SPY options are relatively cheaply priced rather than rich.

A PUT-buying calendar-style combination with a net debit of $39.00 million was the largest displayed trade, built as a three-leg cross-expiry put position using long 775 puts expiring on 2026-09-18, long 775 puts expiring on 2026-08-31, and long 765 puts expiring on 2026-08-24. Relative to the $767.45 reference price, the two 775 puts were in the money while the 765 put was out of the money. Because this structure was established for a net debit, it reflects premium outlay rather than premium collection, pointing to a defensive or outright bearish stance that seeks downside exposure across multiple maturities while layering protection around the current price zone.

$SPY 20260918 775.0 PUT$

$SPY 20260831 775.0 PUT$

$SPY 20260824 765.0 PUT$

A cross-expiry four-leg put combination with a net credit of $11.71 million was the second displayed trade, consisting of short 680 puts and short 580 puts expiring on 2026-11-20, plus short 670 puts and long 570 puts expiring on 2026-09-18. All four strikes were out of the money versus the $767.45 spot reference, and the structure was opened for premium collection, indicating a credit-based strategy rather than an outright long-volatility hedge. Strategically, this looks like a downside put complex designed to harvest premium while retaining some defined protection through the long 570 put, suggesting the trader is willing to lean against a severe decline but still wants disaster insurance on the far downside.

Overall sentiment across all large trades remained bearish, with the tone shaped by the dominant size of long-put downside structures and other negative-leaning option activity, even though some large credit put structures show pockets of willingness to sell downside premium rather than fully price in an immediate collapse.

Unusual Options Activity

$SK Hynix(SKHY)$ options featured two large premium-collection trades: a $1.93 million out-of-the-money put sale and a $1.76 million out-of-the-money call sale. The directional read is moderately bullish, with downside put selling dominating the tape rather than aggressive upside call buying.

SKHY’s implied volatility stands at 79.02%, while its IV percentile is just 11.54%, which indicates that although the absolute IV level appears high, it is low relative to its own recent historical range. In that context, option pricing looks relatively cheap rather than elevated, and the IV/HV ratio of 0.77 further suggests implied volatility is running below historical realized volatility, reinforcing the view that current option premiums are on the inexpensive side.

A PUT sale worth $1.93 million was the largest displayed trade, with 23,230 contracts sold on the September 25, 2026 $105.00 put. With SKHY referenced at $155.62, this strike sits out of the money, so the trade reflects a bullish stance through downside premium selling. Strategically, this kind of position typically signals confidence that the stock will remain above $105.00 into expiration, allowing the seller to collect premium while expressing willingness to take assignment only at a much lower level.

$SKHY 20260925 105.0 PUT$

A CALL sale worth $1.76 million was the other highlighted large trade, with 1,500 contracts sold on the January 15, 2027 $250.00 call. Relative to the current stock price of $155.62, the strike is out of the money, making this a bearish-to-neutral premium-selling position. The strategic message is that the seller likely sees limited upside toward $250.00 over the life of the option and is using the trade to monetize elevated upside distance, effectively betting that the stock will stay below that level through expiration.

Earn $30 Worth Rewards, Capture Potential Opportunities With Options!