Bulls Pile In Where Bears Fear to Tread

Options markets are sending mixed signals this September — with pure call-side dominance on large-caps clashing against heavy bearish flow on beaten-down names.

Calls Dominate the Big Money

A sweep of ORTEX options sentiment data shows 100% positive options flow over the past week for several large-cap names. BNY Mellon, Trane Technologies, Mondelez, Sherwin-Williams, and FedEx all registered maximum bullish options scores. FedEx has an RSI of just 33. Buyers are stepping in hard ahead of an expected bounce.

Centene leads the ORTEX options score leaderboard. The managed-care stock is up 60% year-to-date. Its ORTEX stock score sits at 96.6. Options traders appear to be pricing in more upside — not a reversal.

Bears Double Down on EV Laggards

The bearish side tells a different story. Lucid Group carries a short score of 76.5 and a days-to-cover ratio of nearly 8. It is down 62% year-to-date. Negative options bets against Lucid ranked among the highest in the market this week. Hertz drew similar bearish flow.

Biotech Spike Raises Eyebrows

Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical spiked after hours Thursday. The stock sits at a 14-day RSI of just 18. It is down 44% year-to-date. With a short score of 55.8 and analyst upside of over 100%, a sharp reversal was overdue. Options traders who positioned for a bounce early in the week are now sitting on gains.

Rivian also warrants attention. Its short score of 67 and 5.2 days-to-cover leave it vulnerable to squeeze-driven call activity.

This is not financial advice.