Thursday saw a market decline as S&P 500 lost 1.66%, Dow lost 1.65%, and Nasdaq 100 was down over 2%. Further interest rate cuts in 2025 are unlikely due to Federal Reserve concerns about inflation. Private data shows job layoff announcements up 175% year over year to 153,000 in October. Despite this, Q3 2025 earnings for S&P 500 companies were strong. Unusually active options included deep ITM puts for companies like Meta Platforms, Lululemon, and Constellation Brands. Meta had five puts in the top 100, Lululemon had one, and Constellation Brands had two. Investors traded an average size of 722.5 between two strike prices yesterday, indicating big fish were involved. Using the example of LULU, if STZ bounces up 18% to $153.03 by January 16, the $210 put would yield a profit of $21.23 and the $270 put would also profit $21.23. However, if the share price remains flat until expiration, both puts would have a net cost of $13,180 for 100 STZ shares, 1.6% above the previous closing price of $129.69. Neither put has a chance of reaching their strike prices in the next 64 days.

Read more at 1. Apple announces record-breaking quarterly earnings, with $111.4 billion in revenue and $28.7 billion in profit. The tech giant credits strong iPhone sales and growth in its services division for the impressive financial results. – Barchart

2. Tesla stock surges after reporting a fourth consecutive profitable quarter, with $10.7 billion in revenue and $270 million in net income. The electric car maker also announced plans to ramp up production and delivery of its vehicles in the coming year. – Barchart

3. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos steps down as CEO, handing over the reins to Andy Jassy. Bezos will transition to the role of Executive Chairman, focusing on new ventures and initiatives for the e-commerce giant. Jassy, who previously led Amazon Web Services, is set to take over as CEO in the third quarter of 2021. – Barchart: These 3 Unusually Active Puts Deep ITM Offer Strategic Plays for Both Bulls and Bears