LEAD

Retail investors have suddenly got more cautious in using options and margins. That may spell trouble for tech, says JPMorgan.
Jules Rimmer – MarketWatch
After several months of aggressive risk-on positioning, retail investors are starting to exhibit some signs of caution in the stock market, especially the tech sector. While they still seem to be piling into leveraged exchange-traded funds, trading on margin and in options is beginning to slow. For JPMorgan’s global strategy team this could signal tougher times ahead for those parts of the market where retail investors like to operate.
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Bitcoin’s Woes Could Be Compounded by $10 Billion Options Expiry
Sidhartha Shukla – Bloomberg
Bitcoin is facing a massive options expiry that risks putting more pressure on a market already struggling with fading institutional demand and macroeconomic headwinds. About $10 billion of notional value in Bitcoin options is set to expire on Deribit, the largest crypto options venue, at 4 p.m. Friday in Singapore. Because most of those options are bullish bets and Bitcoin has been falling, there’s potential for traders to adopt more defensive or bearish positioning. “This is a book that has been positioned for higher prices over the medium term, now being marked against a spot that has slipped,” said Jean-David Pequignot, chief commercial officer at Deribit. “The consensus long-call positioning has drifted offside.”
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South Korea delays plan for new single-stock options amid record volatility
Daniel Tudor – Financial Times
South Korea’s main stock exchange has delayed the launch of weekly options tied to single stocks, in a sign of growing concern about frothiness in the world’s best-performing equity market this year. The Korea Exchange had planned to launch contracts linked to four of the country’s largest companies — chipmakers Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, carmaker Hyundai Motor and battery producer LG Energy Solution — on June 29.
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Korea’s Surging Equity Volatility Draws Meme-Stock Comparisons
Abhishek Vishnoi and Youkyung Lee – Bloomberg
The volatility in South Korea’s benchmark equity index has become so extreme that investors and analysts are likening the market’s surging intra-day swings to the meme-stock frenzy. While the comparison may at first sound exaggerated given the Kospi is supported by robust earnings from world-leading chipmakers, it’s not without merit. Escalating interest from retail investors has seen the equity benchmark close up or down by at least 5% on 20 occasions this year — including a 10% plunge on Tuesday — up from just two in 2025. That’s reminiscent of the fervor that surrounded shares such as GameStop Corp. and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. in 2021 when they became the target of a retail-driven frenzy.
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Micron’s Earnings Outpace Expectations; Markets Digesting Entire Sector
JJ Kinahan – Cboe
Micron’s extraordinary earnings last night lit a fire under markets across the world and particularly for memory chip makers. Micron, the largest chip maker in the U.S., crushed Wall Street’s expectations as data centers are wolfing down memory to meet the insatiable demand for AI. Yes, AI-fueled growth is unbelievably and unprecedently robust. But let’s look at it this way: The folks selling the picks and shovels are in incredibly good stead. Those buying them still have to prove that the billions and billions of dollars they’re spending is worth it. In other words, don’t overthink anything.
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Predictions market Kalshi in talks to raise funds at $40bn valuation; Rapidly growing company is increasingly challenging established derivatives and betting rivals
Ivan Levingston, George Steer and Amelia Pollard – Financial Times
Kalshi is in talks to raise funds at a valuation of about $40bn as the rapidly growing predictions market steps up efforts to offer new products and challenge the biggest players in the derivatives and gambling industries. The US-based company could close a fresh funding round as soon as the third quarter of this year, according to people familiar with the matter.
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Chinese Banks Move to Rein in Retail Gold Trading on Volatility
Yihui Xie – Bloomberg
Some major Chinese banks are shutting down services that aid retail trading in precious metals, after a multiyear rally in gold and silver went into reverse in recent months. Industrial & Commercial Bank of China Ltd., the nation’s biggest by assets, said it’ll stop offering intermediary services for individuals to trade precious metals on the Shanghai Gold Exchange after settlement on July 24. Existing clients are advised to sell or close their positions before then, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
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A SpaceX ‘investment coma’ is driving this major space ETF toward its worst month in 6 years
William Gavin – MarketWatch
The first pure-play exchange-traded fund focused on space is about to have its worst month since in six years, despite what some thought would amount to heightened interest in the industry around SpaceX’s initial public offering. The Procure Space ETF has tracked the space sector since 2019. In May, a few weeks before SpaceX’s IPO, ProcureAM CEO Andrew Chanin spoke favorably of what SpaceX could mean for public consciousness around the business of space.
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SpaceX Credit Derivatives Start to Trade After Debut Bond Sale
Caleb Mutua – Bloomberg
Credit-default swaps tied to Elon Musk’s SpaceX have begun actively trading after the company sold high-grade bonds this week for the first time, according to people familiar with the matter, allowing investors to hedge against potential losses or to speculate on the creditworthiness of the firm. Major Wall Street bond dealers are making markets on swaps tied to SpaceX after the rocket, satellite and AI conglomerate raised $25 billion in its bond sale on Tuesday, said the people, asking not to be identified as the details are private.
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Exchanges

NYSE Removes Position Limits on 11 Bitcoin and Ether ETF Options
CoinMarketCap
Two New York Stock Exchange-affiliated exchanges have lifted the 25,000-contract position limit on options tied to 11 crypto exchange-traded funds, effective immediately. NYSE Arca and NYSE American each filed three rule changes in the Federal Register on March 10 covering options linked to Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs listed on their platforms.
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CME to launch wind derivatives for US, Europe and Australia
Mary Hui and Joe Wertz, Bloomberg – Crain’s Chicago Business
The Chicago Mercantile Exchange plans to launch wind derivatives across three continents, according to a person familiar with the matter, as the role of renewable energy in power generation grows.
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Waypoint to provide day one connectivity to Texas Stock Exchange
Natasha Cocksedge – The TRADE
Waypoint Trading Solutions is set to connect to the Texas Stock Exchange, expanding the firm’s client accessibility to cover all US equities trading venues. Tom Lazenga The connectivity will be enabled from day one of launch of the Texas Stock Exchange, which is scheduled to commence trading on 6 July 2026, with initial go-live including specified test stocks, and ETF, ETP and standard corporate listings expected to be rolled out in H2 2026. “Following the announcement of TXSE as a new trading venue, it was important to our clients that we establish connectivity to their platform from day one,” said Tom Lazenga, president of Waypoint Trading Solutions.
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Delta Exchange brings the first Indian crypto offering on TradingView
TradingView
Delta Exchange is available on TradingView as a broker partner. For the first time, traders in India can trade crypto derivatives directly from their charts. Founded in 2024 and registered with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), Delta Exchange is one of India’s largest crypto derivatives providers. Based in Mumbai, the exchange is built around a high-performance matching engine, advanced order types, and deep liquidity across Bitcoin and major altcoins futures & options.
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HKEX to Enhance Strike Price Intervals for Weekly Options
HKEX
Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) is pleased to announce today (Thursday) enhancements to the strike price intervals of both weekly stock and index options, with implementation scheduled for 27 July 2026, subject to regulatory approval. The enhancements will introduce narrower strike price intervals for weekly options, increasing the number of available strike prices around the prevailing market level.
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