GM options skew turns defensive as New York registrations hit a record low

Three distinct signals converged on GM on Tuesday. Put demand is rising in the options market, the borrowing cost for shorts has collapsed, and the company's own registration data in New York just hit the lowest reading since tracking began.

The stock is up roughly 10% over the past week, outpacing a peer median of around 5%. F gained 5.1% over the same period. STLAM added 9.8% but from a much weaker base. GM's move has been the standout among Detroit-rooted names, yet the signals accumulating underneath it point in a more complicated direction.

Put demand rises as the stock rallies

GM's put-call ratio reached 0.81 on November 3, up 1.9 standard deviations from its 20-day mean of 0.74. That is not an extreme reading by itself. The 52-week high on the PCR sits at 1.10, well above the current level. But the direction matters: the ratio has climbed steadily since late October, rising from 0.68 on October 26 to 0.81 now. Options buyers are adding downside protection into a rally rather than chasing it with calls.

New York registrations at a series low

GM's own registration data sharpens the picture. New passenger registrations in New York came in at 1,979 vehicles in October, the lowest reading since the series began tracking in 2024. This is the company's own real-economy data, sourced from US state registration records via the ORTEX Alt Data layer.

Separately, KBA data tracking GM's new car registrations in Germany has been measured to lead GM's quarterly revenue by 15 days, a strong fit over 19 quarters. The Q3 window for German registrations ran 133% above the same quarter a year earlier with all three months in. That is a sharp divergence from what the New York series is showing for October, the first month of Q4. The two datasets point in different directions. The German data covers Q3, which is now behind us. The New York reading is the first datapoint from Q4.

Borrow costs fall but the lending pool is vast

Cost to borrow dropped 56% over the past week to 0.19%, the lowest level since early October. This reflects easing short demand, not a squeeze. Availability is effectively unconstrained: 838 million shares remain available to borrow, and availability sits at the ceiling of the data series. There is no supply-side pressure on shorts here. The CTB drop is consistent with the post-earnings covering that has pushed the stock higher since October 20.

Short interest at 2.3% of free float is not a primary driver of the story and has barely moved over the past month.

Data summary

• PCR: 0.81, up from 0.68 on October 26, 1.9 standard deviations above the 20-day mean
• New York passenger registrations: 1,979 vehicles in October, series low since 2024
• German KBA registrations: measured to lead GM revenue by 15 days; Q3 reading ran 133% above the prior year with all three months in
• Cost to borrow: 0.19%, down 56% week-on-week
• Shares available to borrow: 838 million
• GM shares up 9.7% over the past week; peer median up approximately 5.3%
• Next earnings: January 27, 2027

The level to watch is whether the PCR continues its climb as GM approaches the $101 consensus target, now about 14% above the current $88.34 close.