SQUAWKFLOW
Election 2026: what SPX options price for the Nov 4 session.Election 2026: what SPX options price

Free, no account. Daily levels are open data.
Session archiveSession complete

Unusual options activity on Oct 15, 2026

On Oct 15, 2026, SquawkFlow published 126 snapshots of unusual options activity, 126 from delayed options chain data, the newest captured Oct 15, 2026, 16:14 ET: 91 put/call by expiry, 14 volume vs open interest, 2 premium concentration, 3 same-day share, 16 near vs far dates. Figures are session totals and settlement counts, not individual trades, and no snapshot infers a buyer, seller or direction.

  • 126
    Snapshots published
  • 5
    Kinds that fired
  • QQQ
    Ticker with the largest est. premium
  • 20
    Tickers with a snapshot
Machine-readable versionHow snapshots are made

Boards for Oct 15, 2026

Ticker x expiry x call or put totals from the session's last public capture.

Biggest estimated premium

Biggest est. premium by ticker, expiry and type, in the strikes we track. Estimated as volume times the quote midpoint.

Biggest estimated premium. As of Oct 15, 2026, 16:14 ET. Premium in US dollars, estimated; volume and open interest in contracts, in the strikes captured around the money. Session totals from delayed chain snapshots, not individual trades.
#Ticker, expiryEst. premiumVolumePrior OI
1QQQ puts expiring October 16, 2026$363.4M1,187,2971,312,684
2SPY calls expiring October 16, 2026$345.5M1,000,691786,886
3NVDA calls expiring October 16, 2026$344.6M779,315892,309
4NVDA calls expiring December 18, 2026$291.3M136,904501,034
5QQQ calls expiring October 16, 2026$290.7M813,517782,541
6AMD calls expiring October 16, 2026$196.0M210,66446,140
7IWM puts expiring October 16, 2026$183.4M332,3171,034,578
8TSLA calls expiring October 16, 2026$166.0M428,096208,515
9SPY puts expiring October 16, 2026$134.6M1,105,7482,503,012
10NVDA calls expiring November 20, 2026$110.3M366,938720,733

12 cells withheld: fewer than 3 traded contracts

Volume against prior open interest

Volume vs prior open interest by ticker, expiry and type (open interest >= 5,000). Session volume in the strikes we track divided by their open interest from the prior settlement.

Volume against prior open interest. As of Oct 15, 2026, 16:14 ET. Premium in US dollars, estimated; volume and open interest in contracts, in the strikes captured around the money. Session totals from delayed chain snapshots, not individual trades.
#Ticker, expiryVolume / OIVolumePrior OI
1AMD calls expiring October 19, 20264.7x27,5655,895
2AMD calls expiring October 16, 20264.6x210,66446,140
3SPY puts expiring October 19, 20263.6x338,72693,948
4AAPL puts expiring October 19, 20263.5x41,20311,935
5TSLA calls expiring October 19, 20263.3x78,84023,658
6META calls expiring October 19, 20263.3x50,59015,310
7QQQ calls expiring October 19, 20263.2x177,52754,794
8AAPL calls expiring October 19, 20263.2x43,63913,742
9AMD calls expiring October 23, 20262.6x32,97612,794
10SPY calls expiring October 19, 20262.6x174,06967,955

12 cells withheld: fewer than 3 traded contracts

Put/call extremes by expiry

Put/call volume ratio by ticker and expiry (volume >= 5,000), in the strikes we track. Above 1, more puts than calls traded in that expiry.

Most puts per call

Highest put/call ratios. As of Oct 15, 2026, 16:14 ET. Ratio of put to call contracts traded in one expiry, in the strikes we track.
Ticker, expiryPut/callP / C contracts
BAC options expiring January 19, 2029, Over 3 months38.158,736 / 229
BAC options expiring February 19, 2027, Over 3 months4.424,429 / 1,001
BAC options expiring October 16, 2026, Within a week3.8299,218 / 25,995
COIN options expiring January 15, 2027, 1 to 3 months3.527,380 / 2,098
NVDA options expiring September 17, 2027, Over 3 months3.4015,946 / 4,689

Most calls per put

Lowest put/call ratios. As of Oct 15, 2026, 16:14 ET. Ratio of put to call contracts traded in one expiry, in the strikes we track.
Ticker, expiryPut/callP / C contracts
SOFI options expiring June 16, 2028, Over 3 months0.04216 / 5,550
AMZN options expiring October 30, 2026, 1 to 3 weeks0.065,613 / 96,664
SOFI options expiring November 20, 2026, 1 to 3 months0.0913,497 / 154,580
AMZN options expiring October 26, 2026, 1 to 3 weeks0.11584 / 5,184
NVDA options expiring December 15, 2028, Over 3 months0.12768 / 6,237

12 cells withheld: fewer than 3 traded contracts

Open interest rose at the settlement

Open interest rose at the latest settlement, by ticker, expiry and type, Oct 14, 2026.

Open interest rose at the latest settlement, by ticker, expiry and type. Change and open interest in contracts. Open interest change, not trades; it does not say which side opened or closed.
Ticker, expiryChangeNow open
TLT calls expiring November 30, 2026+170,716325,401
SPX puts expiring October 15, 2026+165,535260,666
SPY calls expiring October 15, 2026+161,128231,354
QQQ puts expiring October 15, 2026+132,407229,788
QQQ calls expiring October 15, 2026+92,613153,216
EWZ puts expiring October 23, 2026+66,434177,854
SPX calls expiring October 15, 2026+65,525114,412
XLU calls expiring October 30, 2026+64,446138,977
TLT calls expiring March 19, 2027+60,334308,690
SPY puts expiring October 20, 2026+58,99387,012

Open interest change, not trades; it does not say which side opened or closed. Every symbol, every strike: biggest open interest changes.

Put/call by expiry

91 snapshots, most notable first

  60. SPYPNOV 20Put/call by expiry

    SPY puts expiring Nov 20 traded 2.8x the calls, vs a 1.3x median

    The median is SPY's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 7,610 put and 2,712 call contracts by 09:47 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 34 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainSPY pageDetails
  65. QQQPNOV 20Put/call by expiry

    QQQ puts expiring Nov 20 traded 2.4x the calls, vs a 1.2x median

    The median is QQQ's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 7,078 put and 2,965 call contracts by 09:39 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 32 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainQQQ pageDetails
  67. AAPLPNOV 6Put/call by expiry

    AAPL puts expiring Nov 6 traded 2.5x the calls, vs a 0.9x median

    The median is AAPL's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 3,420 put and 1,381 call contracts by 11:21 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 24 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainAAPL pageDetails
  69. NVDAPDEC 18Put/call by expiry

    NVDA puts expiring Dec 18 traded 2.0x the calls, vs a 0.6x median

    The median is NVDA's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 16,778 put and 8,604 call contracts by 09:51 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 25 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainNVDA pageDetails
  74. IWMPOCT 16Put/call by expiry

    IWM puts expiring Oct 16 traded 1.6x the calls, vs a 0.7x median

    The median is IWM's put/call volume ratio for contracts within a week over the last 5 sessions. 40,018 put and 25,377 call contracts by 10:01 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 34 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainIWM pageDetails
  76. AAPLPNOV 20Put/call by expiry

    AAPL puts expiring Nov 20 traded 1.8x the calls, vs a 0.9x median

    The median is AAPL's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 6,117 put and 3,402 call contracts by 09:51 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 24 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainAAPL pageDetails
  79. TSLAPNOV 20Put/call by expiry

    TSLA puts expiring Nov 20 traded 1.7x the calls, vs a 0.6x median

    The median is TSLA's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 4,609 put and 2,653 call contracts by 09:40 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 22 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainTSLA pageDetails
  88. COINPDEC 18Put/call by expiry

    COIN puts expiring Dec 18 traded 1.7x the calls, vs a 0.9x median

    The median is COIN's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 2,110 put and 1,249 call contracts by 12:50 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 20 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainCOIN pageDetails
  89. AMDPOCT 21Put/call by expiry

    AMD puts expiring Oct 21 traded 1.6x the calls, vs a 0.8x median

    The median is AMD's put/call volume ratio for contracts within a week over the last 5 sessions. 2,450 put and 1,521 call contracts by 09:56 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 23 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainAMD pageDetails
  91. XOMPDEC 18Put/call by expiry

    XOM puts expiring Dec 18 traded 1.6x the calls, vs a 0.6x median

    The median is XOM's put/call volume ratio for contracts 1 to 3 months out over the last 5 sessions. 2,049 put and 1,308 call contracts by 13:38 ET on Oct 15, 2026. Tracked: up to 40 strikes around the money across 17 expirations.

    Source: Schwab options chainXOM pageDetails

Volume vs open interest

14 snapshots, most notable first

Premium concentration

2 snapshots, most notable first

Same-day share

3 snapshots, most notable first

Near vs far dates

16 snapshots, most notable first

How to read this, and what it cannot tell you

Each snapshot is one templated sentence computed from options chain snapshots aggregated to ticker, expiry and call or put totals, each over at least 3 traded contracts. The sentence is generated by fixed rules, never written by a model, and it never changes once published: a template fix applies only to new snapshots.

  • Delayed at least 15 minutesEvery figure is published at least 15 minutes after the chain capture it describes, and stamped with that capture time in Eastern time.
  • 21 symbols intraday, about 200 end of dayIntraday snapshots cover a fixed list of 21 symbols (major stocks, ETFs and the SPX index), not every optionable symbol. Open interest changes cover about 200 symbols from the nightly Cboe settlement archive.
  • The strikes we track, not the full bookA chain capture is a window: up to 40 strikes around the money in each expiration from the Schwab chain, or every strike in the nearest expirations from the Cboe delayed chain. Totals, shares and ratios describe the strikes captured, and each snapshot states its own coverage.
  • Thin cells are withheldEvery published total, ratio and share rests on at least 3 traded contracts (volume above zero; for open interest change, contracts whose open interest changed). A call or put side of one expiry below that is left out of every figure, shown as withheld, and counted in a footnote, so no difference between published numbers recovers it.
  • Session totals, not tradesVolume is the session total read from chain snapshots, aggregated to ticker, expiry and call or put. There is no trade-by-trade record behind it, and no single trade is shown.
  • No buyer, seller or directionA chain cannot say who bought or sold, whether a contract was opened or closed, or whether it was one leg of a spread. Calls can be sold and puts can hedge stock, so no snapshot carries a direction.
  • Premium is an estimateEstimated premium is volume times the quote midpoint times 100 shares. It is labelled "est." wherever it appears.
  • Open interest arrives the next dayOpen interest is the prior settlement figure. Whether contracts stayed open is only known after the next settlement, which is when each snapshot gets its follow-up.

The six kinds of snapshot

  • Put/call by expiry. Put or call volume in one expiry at least 2.5 times the other side (once a ticker has history, 1.75 times its own usual ratio for that range of expiries), with at least 2,000 contracts on the heavy side.
  • Volume vs open interest. One strike trading at least 5 times its prior open interest, and at least 3 times the ratio of its expiry's tracked strikes, with at least 1,000 contracts open.
  • Premium concentration. One expiry holding an outsized share of a ticker's tracked estimated premium for the session.
  • Same-day share. Contracts expiring the same day taking at least 60% of a ticker's tracked option volume (once it has history, 10 points above its own usual share).
  • Near vs far dates. The put/call ratio within three weeks at least twice, or at most half, the ratio one to three months out.
  • Open interest change. Open interest in one expiry and type changing sharply between two settlements, against that symbol's own typical change.

Until a ticker has five sessions of its own history, a snapshot is judged against a fixed threshold and says so; after that it is also compared with the ticker's own 20-session median, and the snapshot page shows how many sessions that median rests on.

Covered intraday

SPX, SPY, QQQ, IWM, AAPL, MSFT, NVDA, TSLA, META, AMZN, GOOGL, AMD, NFLX, COIN, PLTR, BAC, JPM, GS, XOM, V, SOFI.