Tesla stock has been a favorite among call traders over the past 10 days
Elon Musk's Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) has been unsurprisingly in the spotlight of late, with close comrade Donald Trump sworn in as the U.S. President this past Monday. Even prior to this week's scandals, TSLA options have been a favorite among traders. For today's trading, the electric vehicle (EV) maker is down 0.4% to trade at $413.33.
The stock recently reappeared on Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White's list of equities with the highest options volume over the past two weeks. Specifically, 13,713,947 calls and 10,003,267 puts were traded in the last 10 sessions — only second to chip darling Nvidia (NVDA). During this time frame, the weekly 1/17 440-strike call was the most popular, closely followed by the 430-strike call in the same series.
Shares of Tesla stock have nearly doubled over the past 12 months, surging 98%, with recent support emerging at the 40-day moving average. However, today's shift lower comes after the EV name said it will be sharply hiking prices in Canada, not long after also increasing costs in China. The equity is on pace to log a third consecutive daily loss.
At the International Securities Exchange (ISE), Cboe Options Exchange (CBOE), and NASDAQ OMX PHLX (PHLX), TSLA's 50-day call/put volume ratio of 1.78 ranks in the 96th annual percentile. In simpler terms, calls have been popular over the past 10 weeks for Tesla stock.
Plus, the stock's Schaeffer's Volatility Scorecard (SVS) ranks at 93 out of a possible 100. This suggests Tesla stock has tended to exceed options traders' volatility expectations over the past 12 months.