Options Trading News

Option volume is predictably light in this holiday-shortened session as 3.5 million contracts have traded so far with relatively bullish action in the indexes and ETFs, optionMONSTER's data systems show.

The SPDR S&P 500 Fund (SPY) has 567,000 options traded, with 378,000 puts. Next up are the CBOE Volatility Index (VIX) options with 131,000 and, in a rare occurrence, with puts outpacing calls. Just behind are the S&P 500 Index (SPX) options at 128,000, 80,000 of which are puts.

The S&P 500 VIX Short-Term Futures ETN (VXX) has 111,000 contracts changing hands, evenly split between calls and puts. The iShares Russell 2000 Fund (IWM) options follow closely with 110,000, also evenly split.

The U.S. Oil Fund (USO) is also at 110,000, with 70,000 calls. The PowerShares QQQ Trust (QQQ) has just 57,000 options traded, with roughly equal numbers of calls and puts. We usually see puts outpace calls in the equity index and ETF options.