Cboe

State of the Options Industry Q3 2026: Volume Growth Concentrated in Index and ETF Options Here's what stands out ⬇️

Did you know nearly 1.9 million FLEX options contracts are traded every day? That's up from just 134,000 contracts per day in 2018. In the latest episode of The Long and Short of It, Alan Roldan of WallachBeth Capital and Bill O'Keefe, Director of Derivatives Sales at Cboe, discuss what's driving the rapid growth of the FLEX options market. ▶️

The World Federation of Exchanges closed the markets! 🔔 @TheWFE is the global industry group for exchanges and clearing houses (CCPs) around the world. The WFE represents more than 250 market infrastructures, from those operating in the largest financial centers to those serving frontier markets and organizes the Ring the Bell for Financial Literacy initiative in support of investor education and financial literacy.

What Is the VIX® Index? What it actually measures, and why it’s not what most people think it is.⬇️

Why It Matters The VIX Index may give investors a way to gauge uncertainty even when prices look calm on the surface. Monitoring it alongside equity exposure may support a more complete picture of the risk environment. Understanding what it measures, and what it doesn’t, is the foundation for everything in this volatility series.

Don’t Forget A high VIX Index reading doesn’t mean markets are about to fall. A low reading doesn’t mean they are about to rally. The VIX Index reflects expected movement, not direction. It has been elevated before sustained rallies and subdued ahead of overall declines.

Gigastar opened the markets! 🔔 @GigaStar_ is the Chicago-based startup where individuals can invest in and trade shares of YouTube Creators’ future revenue. GigaStar is ringing the Cboe Opening Bell to celebrate having built the first capital markets for the Creator Economy, right here in its hometown.

BondBloxx closed the markets! 🔔 @bondbloxxetf, the first ETF issuer dedicated exclusively to fixed income, offers investors a comprehensive suite of bond ETFs spanning U.S. Treasuries, investment grade and high yield corporates, emerging markets, tax-aware strategies, and private credit. BondBloxx is ringing the Cboe closing bell today to celebrate the fourth anniversary of XEMD, its emerging markets bond ETF, which recently reached $1 billion in assets under management.

In today's Macro Volatility Digest: 🔹 Implied volatilities rose across asset classes last week as oil prices gained on rising geopolitical tensions and investors pulled back from Tech stocks ahead of key earnings. 🔹 While the VIX® Index ended last week mostly unch’d at 19.5%, it masked significant sector rotation underneath the index surface (e.g. Comm Svc down 6.2% vs. Energy up 1.6%). 🔹 Sentiment in SPX options swung sharply last week as the initial market rebound saw investors chasing with upside calls before the sell-off at the end of the week led to renewed hedging demand. Get a sneak peek below, and download the full report:

Macro Volatility Digest: Tech Risk Premium Rising Ahead of Key Earnings What stands out⤵️

Sentiment in SPX options swung sharply last week as the initial market rebound saw investors chasing with upside calls before the sell-off at the end of the week led to renewed hedging demand. SPX downside convexity ended the week in the 99th percentile high.

Download the full report:

Exegy closed the markets! 🔔 @ExegyInc is a global leader in capital markets technology, providing the critical infrastructure that powers some of the world's largest financial institutions and trading firms. As global markets evolve, Exegy continues to drive innovation in the reliability, accessibility, and speed of market data and execution systems.

Lossdog opened the markets! 🔔 .@wearelossdog is a Chicago fintech company from Tom Sosnoff and Scott Sheridan, the founders of thinkorswim and tastytrade. Its platform gives active investors and working professionals one place to optimize their portfolios and price their careers.