No new stock highs, no problem: Options traders bet they're coming in these names

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., Sept. 16, 2026. Jeenah Moon | ReutersS&P 500 futures are trading at all-time highs, but an aura of concern is lingering among investors trying to make sense of extremely low breadth in the U.S. stock market. On the New York Stock Exchange Tuesday, 75 stocks made new 52-week lows, versus just 14 names making new highs.Options traders who are piling into bullish positions in both indexes and key stock leaders are sending a clear message: Just wait.Monday's rally in stocks was so strong that there are signs even institutional market-makers were caught offsides and had to buy upside calls to keep up with momentum, as the volume ratio of calls to puts climbed to the highest since May, and for the State Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY), the highest since the first week of August, according to Barchart data.The same goes for the Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), with the ratio of calls to puts hitting the highest in at least a year. The odds that the Nasdaq 100 touches a new high by the end of the week are now more than 67%, according to options pricing on trading platform ThinkOrSwim.Stock Chart Ico...