Traders are currently positioned at extremes, as nearly $10 billion flowed into leveraged ETFs last week—the highest weekly inflow in Goldman Sachs data since 2006—with buying concentrated in 3x semiconductor ETFs despite an 11% sector selloff. Protection seeking also extended to volatility markets, where VIX call volume hit its 2nd highest level in 5 years and VIX futures volume rose to 524,282 contracts, which is 3.6 times its 20 day average.
Tuesday, October 20, 2026
Story
S&P 500 Puts Hit Record $3.4 Trillion Notional Volume
US Markets1 day ago
Bearish betting on U.S. equities spiked on Friday as 4.1 million contracts for S&P 500 put options changed hands, well above the three month average of 2.4 million. Notional volume for these contracts reached an all-time high of roughly $3.4 trillion, while the put to call ratio climbed to 1.46. Simultaneously, CBOE index put option volume hit a record 5.33 million contracts, or 1.7 times its 20 day average, and total CBOE put volume rose to 9.62 million contracts, the 4th highest level in 11 years.
Looking for more context or analysis?
Tilt chat provides reliable, tailored insights, alerts, and automations.