Open Interest Monitor - 8 August 2025

Data through market close 6 August 2025

What is the Open Interest Monitor?

The Open Interest Monitor tracks which options have the highest total open interest across stocks, ETFs, and indices. It helps highlight where liquidity is deepest, where institutional activity may be concentrated, and which themes are drawing the most attention in the options market. Whether you're looking for trading ideas, better execution, or insights into market sentiment, open interest offers a valuable lens.

Note: This edition covers options on US-listed underlyings only. We are working to include European-listed instruments in future versions.

Top 20 options by open interest (as of 6 August 2025)

This table shows the 20 listed options with the highest total open interest, combining calls and puts. Open interest data reflects active outstanding contracts and offers insights into market liquidity, sentiment, and positioning.

What the columns mean (short version):
Last = Last traded price of the underlying
IV Rank = Implied volatility rank (0–100 scale)
Total OI = Combined open interest for puts and calls
1M OI % Chg = Change in total open interest over the past month
Options Vol = Daily trading volume in options
P/C Vol = Put/Call volume ratio (based on daily volume)

For more detail, see the full glossary at the bottom of this article.

What traders can take away

• Big movers in open interest:
  VIX (+11.7%), AMZN (+9.8%), NIO (+9.2%), AMD (+8.8%) and INTC (+8.0%) saw the sharpest 1-month OI growth among the top 20. These surges often reflect repositioning around earnings or macro themes.

• Highest implied-volatility ranks:
  NIO (38.5%), NVDA (26.2%), and AAPL (21.1%) stand out. These names are priced for movement, and options sellers may demand a premium unless volatility fades.

• Where hedges cluster:
  HYG’s put/call volume ratio of 6.8 and EEM’s 3.6 suggest institutions are still leaning defensively in credit and emerging markets. In contrast, NIO (0.22) and AMZN (0.41) show speculative call-side activity.

A few observations from the data

• Low-volatility names
  TSLA currently shows an IV Rank of 0.0%—the lowest in the top 20. For traders monitoring volatility dynamics, such readings are often associated with calmer option pricing, which could impact how certain strategies are priced or constructed.

• Defensive positioning in credit
  HYG stands out with a put/call volume ratio above 6. This suggests that, recently, trading activity has been more concentrated in put options than calls—potentially reflecting hedging behaviour. Observers may want to watch how this skew evolves if market sentiment on credit markets changes.

• Semiconductor activity
  NVDA, AMD, and INTC remain active in terms of open interest. NVDA has earnings coming up, while AMD and INTC reported recently. Increased open interest in these names may reflect post-earnings adjustments or continued interest in the semiconductor sector from market participants.

Conclusion

Open interest remains concentrated in a familiar set of names—SPX, NVDA, SPY, and QQQ continue to dominate the list. But beneath the surface, some subtle shifts are worth watching. AMZN, NIO, and AMD are seeing notable OI growth, HYG stands out for its defensive skew, and NVDA continues to carry elevated expectations. These patterns may help traders interpret flow, sentiment, or upcoming catalysts as markets evolve.

Column-by-column glossary

Last
The last traded price of the underlying asset (stock, ETF, or index). This gives a reference point for where the asset currently trades and helps identify how close it is to key strike levels in the option chain.

IV Rank (%)
Implied Volatility Rank (IV Rank) shows where current implied volatility sits relative to the past 12 months. A reading of 0% means IV is at its lowest point of the year; 100% means it's at the highest. Higher IV Rank suggests options are more expensive compared to recent history, which may favour premium-selling strategies.

Total Open Interest (Total OI)
This is the total number of open option contracts across both calls and puts for the underlying. It represents outstanding positions that have not yet been closed or exercised. High OI is often associated with deep liquidity and significant institutional interest.

1M OI % Change
Shows how much total open interest has changed over the past month. A rising figure can point to fresh positioning or increased speculation, while a falling number may indicate closed-out trades or reduced interest in the underlying.

Options Volume
The number of option contracts traded during the most recent session. High volume relative to open interest may suggest new trades are being initiated. Sudden spikes often coincide with market-moving news or upcoming events.

Put/Call Volume Ratio (P/C Vol)
This ratio compares the volume of puts traded to calls on the same day. A ratio above 1.0 implies more puts were traded (often for downside protection), while a value below 1.0 shows call-heavy flow (often speculative or bullish). Extreme readings can highlight skewed sentiment or potential contrarian signals.