Today's Options Market Update

Crude oil fell 2% early today, boosting major indexes ahead of this week's main event: inflation data. The May Consumer Price Index (CPI) tomorrow and the Producer Price Index (PPI), due Thursday, are key tipping points before next week's Federal Reserve meeting, and trading could be rangebound ahead of the numbers. Despite oil's drop on hopes for progress resolving the war, Treasury yields remain elevated, a possible hindrance to any rally attempt.

May's CPI and PPI won't tell investors where inflation might head from here—that's the Fed's job to glean—but could hint if oil-driven price growth showed up in the core figures that don't directly include energy and food costs. For CPI, analysts expect 0.5% headline growth month over month and 0.3% core growth. Both would be slightly down from 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, in April. Headline CPI is seen up 4.3% year over year.

Stocks were mixed Monday, with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq holding most of their early gains while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed marginally lower. The advance was shallow, however, as just three of 11 S&P 500 sectors finished higher, led by info tech. Data is light today but May existing home sales due at 10 a.m. ET are expected to rise 0.6% from April. Earnings action resumes late Wednesday with Oracle (ORCL), another barometer of AI spending demand after Broadcom's (AVGO) outlook last week appeared to disappoint, and chips stocks flexed more muscle this morning following Monday's rebound.

Source: Schwab Center for Financial Research

The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield (TNX) is lower by ~1 basis point to 4.542%.

The U.S. Dollar Index ($DXY) is lower by 0.27 to 99.78.

WTI Crude Oil (/CL) July futures are lower by 3.98% to $87.67/barrel.

Gold prices have traded in a range of $4,328.30-4,388.60 and were last seen trading lower by ~0.64% to $4,335.40/oz.

Natural Gas prices for May futures have traded in a range of $3.117-3.207 today and were last seen trading higher by 1.05% to $3.18.

Bitcoin (BTC) is lower by ~2.65% over the last 24 hours to $61,389.50 today.

Shares of JM Smucker Co. (SJM + $11.62 to $113.39) are moving higher this morning after the snack and beverage maker reported Q4 adjusted EPS of $2.77 ($0.13 beat) on Q4 revenue that increased 5.83% year-over-year (YoY) to $2.268B (slightly above the $2.260G expected). Looking ahead, the company guided FY2027 adjusted EPS to a range of $9.75-10.25 (vs. the $9.79 consensus estimate) and FY2027 sales to a range of $9.322-9.41B (above the $9.107B expected). Calls are outpacing puts better than 5:1 with the June 18^th 125.00 call leading the way (volume is 7,987).

Also trading to the upside this morning is West Pharmaceutical Services Inc. (WST + $13.65 to $333.40) after Barclays upgraded the maker of packaging, containment and delivery systems for injectable drugs to “Overweight” from “Equal Weight” and hiked their price target on the stock to $400.00 from $310.00. Analysts at Barclays said that they overestimated the potential headwinds from multi-dose vials and oral GLP-1 drugs and see several upside drivers for the stock over the near-term. Option volume is tepid at the time of this writing with the June 18^th 320.00 call being the highest volume contract (volume is 24).

New 52-week highs (205 new highs today): Crocs Inc. (CROX + $7.23 to $127.88), Humana Inc. (HUM + $0.99 to $356.97), Marriot International Inc. (MAR + $3.56 to $394.98)

Some unusual call activity (~150:1 calls over puts) is being seen in Kimco Realty Corp. (KIM + $0.88 to $25.13) as option traders primarily target the July 17^th 30.00 call. Volume on this contract is 6,988 versus open interest of 200, we know that the volume primarily represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.05-0.15 each, which suggests bullish intent. Shares of KIM are trading at the highest levels since December of 2024 this morning.

Shares of SailPoint Inc. (SAIL - $2.54 to $15.15) are gapping down this morning after the identity security firm beat quarterly estimates but issued lackluster guidance earlier this morning. SAIL reported fiscal Q1 adjusted earnings of $0.05 per share ($0.01 beat) on Q1 revenue that increased 21.55% year-over-year to $280.142M (above the $276.02M expected). Looking ahead, the company said that Q2 adjusted EPS is expected to be $0.07-0.08 (vs. the $0.08 expected) on Q2 revenue that is expected to come in a range of $308-312M (vs. the $309.854M consensus estimate). Puts are slightly outnumbering calls with the June 18^th 15.00 put being the highest volume contract (volume is 2,009).

Also trading to the downside this morning is United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI - $6.62 to $45.03) after the natural and organic food maker reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $0.77 ($0.01 miss) on Q3 revenue of $7.723B (below the $7.803B expected). Regarding guidance, the company narrowed its FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance to a range of $2.40-2.60 (from $2.30-2.70) and FY2026 sales guidance to a range of $31.10-31.30B (from $31.00-31.40B and versus the $31.307B consensus estimate). Calls are outnumbering puts nearly 2:1 with the July 17^th 55.00 call seeing the most action from traders (volume is 502).

New 52-week lows (75 new lows today): AT&T Inc. (T + $0.04 to $22.54), Cable One Inc. (CABO - $0.24 to $42.16), Trade Desk Inc. (TTD + $0.32 to $19.75)

Some unusual put activity (~20:1 put over calls) is being seen in Grupo Financiero Galicia S.A. (GGAL + $0.73 to $48.77) which is primarily driven by a 4,500 contract block that was sold on the October 16^th 39.00 put for $2.20 when the bid/ask spread was $0.25 x $4.20 (open interest is 4). We know that this block is a new position based on the open interest figure, and we can assume that the block trader believes that GGAL will close above the $39.00 price level and/or is comfortable taking a long 450,000 share position in the stock at an effective purchase price of $36.80 if GGAL closes below $39.00 at expiration.

Pediatrix Medical Group Inc. (MD + $0.80 to $23.27): Option volume is running at ~1,500x the daily average on this provider of newborn, maternal-fetal and other pediatric subspecialty care services as option traders primarily target the June 18^th 25.00 call. Volume on this contract is 6,846 versus open interest of 91, we know that the volume primarily represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.20-0.50 each, which suggests bullish intent.

Post Holdings Inc. (POST + $2.14 to $92.19): Option volume is running at ~900x the daily average on this consumer-packaged goods maker as option traders primarily target the June 18^th 100.00 call. Volume on this contract is 3,008 versus open interest of 9, so it’s likely that nearly all the volume represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought at various times for between $0.45-0.60 each, which suggests bullish intent.

Cousins Properties Inc. (CUZ + $0.58 to $28.90): Option volume is running at ~350x the daily average on this office REIT as option traders primarily target the July 17^th 30.00 call. Volume on this contract is 1,986 versus open interest of 55, so it’s likely that nearly all the volume represents fresh positioning. The bulk of the transactions consisted of various-sized blocks that were bought around the same time at the ask price of $0.50 each, which suggests bullish intent. 

The Cboe Volatility Index (VIX + 2.90 to 21.82) has been on both sides of the unchanged line today (the intraday range is 17.52-22.44), as equity markets are lower around the midday mark (DJI - 291, SPX - 115, $COMP - 703). VIX option volume is above average today at 553,446 contracts, and calls are outpacing puts ~2:1 so far today.