📍First time in history, SPX call options in ONE DAY reached $2.6T

📌The total notional value of traded call options reached approximately $2.6 trillion. Among them, 0DTE volume accounts for about 59%, meaning most of the money is going into short-term options.
📌However, this $2.6T is not real money used to buy stocks but the notional value of options linked to the SPX index -> it is speculative.
📌When many people buy calls, market makers are the sellers of calls, so they have to hedge their risk.
If market makers are in a short gamma position, the more SPX rises, the more they have to buy futures/stocks to hedge. This buying pushes the index higher, creating a gamma squeeze effect.
📌As prices rise, the demand for hedging can increase -> hedge buying pushes prices up further, creating a gamma loop.
This story has two classic case studies: GameStop and Tesla.
📌New financial products make the financial market more complex for the general public (which is why investment funds/asset management companies are involved). Clearly, the S&P 500 is increasingly dependent on derivatives structures to amplify gains or, more simply, the market is rising on leverage.