Unusual Options Activity Mon 10/9/23

Stocks seeing volatility buying (bullish call buying/bearish put buying):

Calls:

• PXD Oct 250 calls are seeing interest with 12.5K contracts trading vs. open int of 1.6K, pushing implied vol up around 13 points to ~50%. Co is expected to report earnings early November.
  
• OXY Oct 64 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 4% with 13.2K contracts trading vs. open int of 1.1K, pushing implied vol up around 10 points to ~39%. Chevron (CVX) was interested in Occidental Petroleum (OXY) at the beginning of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. Co is expected to report earnings November 7 after the close.
• LMT Oct 450 calls are seeing interest with the underlying stock up 8% with 2810 contracts trading vs. open int of 0, pushing implied vol up around 5 points to ~41%. Defense names showing strength amid Israel/Hamas war. 
  

Puts:

• DLO Oct 17 puts are seeing interest with 11.0K contracts trading vs. open int of 0, pushing implied vol up around 19 points to ~65%. Co is expected to report earnings mid-November.
  

Sentiment: The CBOE Put/Call ratio is currently: 0.96, VIX: (17.75, +0.30, +1.7%).
October 20 is options expiration -- the last day to trade October equity options.