Bears Swarm EVs as Halloween Options Flare

Options bears are circling the electric vehicle sector hard into October's close. Lucid Group stands out with a short score of 87 and 15 days to cover, while its RSI sits at just 36. Put volume has clustered around the November 6 expiry, the nearest weekly strike for several struggling EV names.

Wolfspeed and Hertz show the same pattern. Both carry active weekly option chains out to January 2027. Bears appear to be positioning ahead of a sector catalyst window. ORTEX alt data sharpens the picture: US new electric vehicle registrations fell 29% year-on-year in August 2026, dropping to 6,635 from 9,347 the prior year. That is the kind of demand signal options traders price into puts.

Polestar reports on November 5. Dutch car registrations, a leading indicator for Polestar revenue with a strong 60-day lead, are running 37% below the same quarter last year. Its option chain extends only to November 20, suggesting traders are watching the print closely.

Talen Energy offers a contrasting setup on the power side. Options flow is also active, but the narrative around data-centre power demand remains positive. Negative bets dominate the EV complex. Positive bets are drifting toward power infrastructure.

Moderna draws separate attention. ORTEX Index Rebalance Radar puts its MSCI World addition probability at 88%, with a forecast $5.9B of buying equivalent to 1.2 days of normal volume. The announcement is due November 11. Call activity in the November expiry may reflect that mechanic rather than fundamental optimism.

Across the board, the heaviest options volumes for EV and auto names concentrate in the November 6 and November 20 expiries. That timing brackets three auto earnings prints. Sentiment in the sector is clearly skewed to the downside.