Earnings Calls, Iran Talks Drive Options Flows

GOOGL dominated options desks on Wednesday. Alphabet's CEO outlined 30 new YouTube products and flagged rising demand for complex agentic AI queries. Short-dated contracts expiring October 30 saw heavy interest. The next cluster lands November 6, pointing to post-election hedging demand.

Geopolitics rattled energy options. A WSJ report on US-Iran peace talks sent put pressure into USO, the oil ETF. USO carries daily expiries through to January 2027. Traders loaded near-dated puts as crude softened on the diplomacy headline. SPY options stretched to January 2029, with the October 28 expiry absorbing same-day volatility bets.

FDX options drew attention after FedEx beat estimates but fell on guidance. The next listed expiry is October 30. Put buyers stepped in quickly. Stock is down on the session.

On the ORTEX options sentiment screen, Cigna topped the positive 7-day score among large caps. Super Group sat among the most bearish readings, with a short score of 75.8 and RSI near 29.

Twist Bioscience showed the weakest options sentiment in the screen. The ORTEX Index Rebalance Radar puts its Russell 2000 deletion probability at 55%, up from 20% overnight, with $529M of forced buying attached if it crosses above 162.62. Options expiries run only to January 2027, limiting hedging flexibility with the October 30 rank date two sessions away.