SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust closed at $777.88, rising 0.70%.

The session was dominated by a massive $72.60 million net-credit three-leg put combination, selling deep out-of-the-money strikes as a bullish premium collection strategy. With total bullish flow surging to $86.35 million against just $22.14 million in bearish flow, the net bullish difference of $64.21 million underscored a decisively positive sentiment that overshadowed smaller bearish hedges in the tape.

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Options Indicators

SPY’s implied volatility is 15.36%, and with an IV percentile of 15.14%, current volatility sits near the low end of its recent range, indicating that options are cheaply priced rather than expensive. The IV/HV ratio of 1.11 suggests implied volatility is only modestly above historical realized volatility, reinforcing the view that current option premiums are relatively restrained and that the market is not assigning an elevated volatility premium at the moment. The Call/Put volume ratio is 1.05.

Large Trades

A three-leg PUT combination with a net credit of $72.60 million was the dominant large trade of the session. All three legs expire on 2026-12-18, with short 610 puts, short 480 puts, and long 350 puts, and every strike sits out of the money versus the $777.88 spot reference. As a net-credit put structure, this looks primarily like premium collection with a bullish-to-neutral stance, expressing the view that SPY is likely to remain comfortably above the short-put strikes over time while still keeping a far-downside long put as disaster protection. The use of two short put strikes combined with a lower-strike long put suggests the trader was willing to assume downside exposure in exchange for sizable upfront income, but not without defining tail risk.

A bullish bull put spread with a net credit of $1.18 million was the second highlighted trade. This 2026-09-18 structure involved selling the 710 put and buying the 650 put, with both strikes also out of the money relative to the current SPY reference price. The trade is a classic premium-selling bullish strategy: the seller collects income upfront and benefits if SPY stays above 710 into expiration, while the long 650 put caps downside risk. Its net-credit design points to a moderately constructive directional bet rather than aggressive upside chasing, consistent with a view that any pullback should remain limited.

Overall large-trade sentiment was clearly bullish, with total bullish flow of $86.35 million versus bearish flow of $22.14 million, leaving a net bullish difference of $64.21 million. The directional judgment is therefore decisively positive. That conclusion is reinforced by the character of the flow: the largest trade by far was a massive net-credit put combination, and the second featured trade was also a bullish put-credit spread, both of which are consistent with investors monetizing elevated downside premium while positioning for SPY to remain above key lower strikes. Although there were notable bearish hedges and put spreads elsewhere in the tape, they were materially outweighed by the scale of bullish premium-selling structures, indicating confidence in price stability or controlled upside rather than fear of a major breakdown.

Strategy Reference

For traders looking to echo the session’s theme of premium collection with a defined risk profile, selling the 610 put in a bull put spread by purchasing the 550 put could offer a similar high-probability setup, keeping the short strike well below the current price with a very low delta and assignment risk.