SpaceX Put Trade: The $4 Million Bet on a Rally's End

SpaceX bottomed at 108.27 on August 5th after a 14% single-session drop, and has been green nearly every session since. It's now near 143.69, roughly 33% off that low in under a month. Across two sessions, about $6.93 million in puts hit the tape in four orders, and every one printed between roughly 2:58 and 3:00 central. That's a closing-bell time of trade, not a midday hedge drifting into the close. The anchor is a September 4th 143 put, at the money with three days to expiration. About $3.97 million in premium, 11,426 contracts against open interest of 577, so that strike's open interest more than doubled. The rest of the structure sits further out: September 18th at 132 and 128, and an October 2nd line with 31 days where open interest rose 21%. The timing is the part worth thinking about. The next unlock, another roughly 7% of the company, arrives September 10th. The biggest position expires six days before it. Whoever put this on isn't waiting for the catalyst everyone else is watching. The first two unlocks in August were supposed to pressure the stock and it rose through both, which is part of how the squeeze got here. Levels: 143 is the immediate battleground, 132 and then 130 and 128 are the next zones down, and 150 has acted as a ceiling for two to three weeks. With options this short dated, gamma risk builds every session. For context on the disagreement: 35 analysts still rate it a buy, with an average target near 219.22, a low of 117 and a high of 450. That's a 3.8x spread between the extremes, the widest analyst range we've covered on this show. --- This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Options involve risk and are not suitable for all investors. Unusual options activity does not indicate the intent or identity of any market participant. 📊 tastylive: https://www.tastylive.com/ 📰 Get Tom Preston's pre-market analysis every morning: https://www.tastylive.com/newsletters 📘 FREE Options Strategy Guide: https://tinyurl.com/bp9ms763 📱 Follow tastylive on X: https://x.com/tastyliveshow #options #trading #investing #finance #stocks #stockmarket #marketanalysis #tradereducation #financialeducation #tastylive tastylive is a real financial network, producing hours of live programming every day. Follow along as our experts navigate the markets, provide actionable trading insights, and teach you how to trade. With over 120 original segments, and over 25 personalities, we'll help you take your trading to the next level, whether you are new to trading or a seasoned veteran. tastylive content is created, produced, and provided solely by tastylive, Inc. ("tastylive") and is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, trading or investment advice or a recommendation that any security, futures contract, digital asset, other product, transaction, or investment strategy is suitable for any person. Trading securities, futures products, and digital assets involve risk and may result in a loss greater than the original amount invested. Investment information provided may not be appropriate for all investors and is provided without respect to individual investor financial sophistication, financial situation, investing time horizon or risk tolerance. Options, futures, and futures options are not suitable for all investors. Prior to trading securities, options, futures, or futures options, please read all applicable risk disclosures, including, but not limited to, the Characteristics and Risks of Standardized Options Disclosure and the Futures and Exchange Traded Options Risk Disclosure Statement found at https://tastytrade.com/disclosures/. Past performance is not indicative of future results. Performance is not presented net of all commissions, fees, and expenses. Multi-leg option strategies incur higher transaction costs than single leg trades as they involve multiple commission charges. Examples provided are for illustrative, informational, and educational purposes only and are not intended to be reflective of results you can expect to achieve. Supporting documentation for any claims, including claims made on behalf of options programs), comparisons, statistics, or other technical data, if applicable, will be supplied upon request. tastylive, through its content, financial programming or otherwise, does not provide investment or financial advice or make investment recommendations. tastylive is not a licensed financial adviser, registered investment adviser, or a registered broker-dealer.