Today, ORCL ranked 4th in single-stock options trading volume, mainly dominated by 0DTE (zero days to expiration) options. The 0DTE buyer win rate for the 125-182.5 range was 0%, with all calls and puts in this range dropping, even deep ITM (in-the-money) options. Not much to say about the earnings fundamentals—there’s significant market disagreement. This earnings report wasn’t particularly impressive, but there were no signs of deterioration either. From a technical perspective, the stock is back in the middle range, with no breakout or breakdown. Today’s downward momentum was almost entirely driven by 0DTE options hedging. Above 150, there was positive gamma. At the open, IV crushed, and a large number of bullish options were closed, leading market makers to unwind hedges by selling shares. The stock closed just above 150, but there was also a massive increase in September 18 options volume today, with call volume far exceeding put volume. Next week is FOMC, with the Fed’s interest rate decision. Market uncertainty will likely suppress any strong one-sided trends. After the FOMC, September 18 marks this quarter’s quadruple witching day, so options will continue to have a significant impact on the market. It’s likely we’ll have to wait until next week is over before stocks with unclear recent trends start to show real movement. As for my ORCL options, aside from the disastrous 170 calls for next week, the rest are for next year. My cost basis for the stock is 130 from this round of buying, and I’ll use last week’s low of 140 as my stop-loss for the shares.