Top 20 Equity Options Traded
in January 2025

February 4, 2025

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In January we witnessed President Trump’s inauguration and a rapid-fire series of executive orders to start his second administration. We also saw a flurry of news related to the wild fires in LA, the TikTok ban and more. With that there were four main themes impacting markets in the first month of the year: new trade tariffs, Fed monetary policy, DeepSeek impact on the US AI industry and investor sentiment on future performance.   

In January, U.S. stock markets exhibited notable but choppy performance, with the S&P 500 Index gaining 2.7% for the month while the Nasdaq Composite and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 1.6% and 4.7% for the month, respectively.

This positive movement was influenced by strong fourth-quarter earnings, where 79% of companies surpassed expectations, and encouraging economic indicators. Although the Fed paused rate cuts in January, the markets seemed to have that already priced in.

A major event in January was the substantial decline in Nvidia's market value, which decreased by nearly $600 billion—the largest single-day loss for a U.S. company in history. This downturn was triggered by the emergence of DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup that developed an advanced AI model at a lower cost and with less computing power, challenging Nvidia's market position and impacting AI companies across the industry.

Additionally, President Donald Trump's announced new tariffs on imports from Canada, Mexico, and China introduced further market uncertainty. The tariffs, set at 25% for Mexican and Canadian imports (10% for energy) and 10% for Chinese imports, are anticipated to raise consumer prices and impact corporate profits, leading financial institutions to reassess their economic forecasts.

Despite these challenges, investor sentiment remained optimistic. A Gallup poll indicated that 61% of Americans expect the stock market to rise in the next six months, reflecting the highest confidence levels since 2001.

The chart below visualizes ETF performance related on the Dow, Nasdaq and S&P indices for the month of January 2025. 

Nvidia volatility creates interesting trading opportunities in January and holds the #1 spot on our Top 20 list. We see a rearranging of positions for most of the other monthly mainstays. Earnings for many of these symbols are expected in the first week of February. 

Below are the most active 20 equity symbols based on the number of option trades in eOption accounts in January 2024. Note that we do not make trade recommendations and are sharing this solely for your interest.

  1. Nvidia (NVDA)
  2. Booking.com (BKNG)
  3. Tesla (TSLA)
  4. Palantir Technologies (PLTR)
  5. MicroStrategy (MSTR)
  6. Meta Platforms (META)
  7. Apple (AAPL)
  8. Netflix (NFLX)
  9. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD)
  10. Microsoft (MSFT)
  11. Boeing (BA)
  12. Amazon (AMZN)
  13. Trump Media (DJT)
  14. Micron Technologies (MU)
  15. Broadcom (AVGO)
  16. Coinbase (COIN)
  17. Reddit (RDDT)
  18. Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM)
  19. Costco (COST)
  20. Pacific Gas & Electric (PCG)

Will we see a reversal of new tariffs in February? What other executive orders does the Trump administration have in mind? We will find out in next months update. 

Stay informed and trade well.

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This information provided for general informational purposes only and should not be considered recommendations or advice by eOption. Past performance is not indicative of future results.

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Investing involves risks, and investment decisions should be based on your own goals, time horizon, and tolerance for risk. The return and principal value of investments will fluctuate as market conditions change. When sold, investments may be worth more or less than their original cost.

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