Weekly Options Flow Report for August 17–21, 2026
Published August 23, 2026 · By Profit Builders
Weekly options flow highlights
Technology contracts accounted for the largest share of observed options premium during the week of August 17–21, 2026, representing $17.4 billion of the $29.5 billion tracked across all sectors. Buy-side premium totaled approximately $23.2 billion, compared with $6.4 billion in sell-side premium—a roughly 3.6-to-1 difference in observed premium classification. Moderna (MRNA) recorded $526.6 million in weekly premium against a trailing four-week average of $18.0 million, a 29.3× multiple and the largest anomaly measured during the week. The largest individual print was a $129.3 million SMH put position at the 630 strike with 95 days to expiration. SPY sweep activity included a 67-fill execution across 18 exchanges completed in under 1.4 seconds. These observations describe detected options activity and classification; they do not independently establish investor intent or forecast price direction.
- →Technology represented roughly 58.9% of observed weekly premium ($17.4B of $29.5B total).
- →Buy-classified premium totaled $23.2 billion versus $6.4 billion in sell-classified premium, a roughly 3.6-to-1 ratio based on Profit Builders' flow classification.
- →MRNA's weekly premium of $526.6M was 29.3× its trailing four-week average of $18.0M, the largest anomaly multiple of the week.
- →The week's single largest print was a $129.3M SMH put position at the 630 strike, 95 days to expiration.
Sector options flow breakdown
Options flow by sector for August 17–21, 2026 — total observed premium ($29.5B across 98,615 signals) grouped by sector.
| Sector | Premium | Trades |
|---|---|---|
| TECH | $17.4B | 474,030 |
| ETF | $8.3B | 1,635,530 |
| CONSUMER | $3.4B | 400,815 |
| INDEX | $2.2B | 12,929 |
| HEALTHCARE | $1.4B | 29,365 |
| OTHER | $1.3B | 45,752 |
| ENERGY | $1.0B | 11,255 |
| FINANCE | $419.9M | 20,269 |
| INDUSTRIAL | $283.1M | 10,099 |
| TELECOM | $5.7M | 516 |
Largest unusual options trades
The largest single trades by premium observed this week.
| Symbol | Strike | Expiration | Action | Premium | DTE | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SMH | $630 | 2026-11-20 | BUY_PUTS | $129.3M | 95 | QUALIFIED |
| MU | $1190 | 2026-08-21 | BUY_PUTS | $110.6M | 1 | PASS |
| SPCX | $230 | 2026-09-18 | BUY_PUTS | $102.6M | 29 | PASS |
| MU | $1200 | 2026-08-21 | BUY_PUTS | $88.0M | 1 | PASS |
| AMD | $430 | 2026-11-20 | BUY_CALLS | $87.3M | 92 | QUALIFIED |
| MU | $1200 | 2026-08-21 | BUY_PUTS | $80.9M | 1 | PASS |
| MU | $1190 | 2026-08-21 | BUY_PUTS | $68.0M | 1 | PASS |
| GLD | $415 | 2026-09-18 | BUY_CALLS | $64.3M | 30 | QUALIFIED |
| AMD | $450 | 2026-10-16 | BUY_CALLS | $62.8M | 57 | QUALIFIED |
| TSLA | $380 | 2026-08-21 | BUY_PUTS | $52.2M | 1 | PASS |
Notable options sweeps this week
The largest sweep orders — trades filled aggressively across multiple exchanges at once, a signal of urgency. See Sweep vs Block vs Dark Pool for how to read them.
| Symbol | Strike | Type | Premium | Fills | Exchanges | Direction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| SPY | $800 | call | $18.1M | 67 | 18 | AGGRESSIVE_SELL |
| GE | $400 | call | $17.7M | 5 | 1 | NEUTRAL |
| XOM | $180 | call | $11.1M | 6 | 1 | NEUTRAL |
| SPY | $755 | put | $10.4M | 46 | 16 | AGGRESSIVE_BUY |
| NDX | $30000 | put | $8.2M | 4 | 1 | AGGRESSIVE_BUY |
Week-over-week options activity changes
Symbols whose weekly premium moved sharply against their trailing four-week baseline — the clearest read on unusual options activity this week versus a typical week for that name.
| Symbol | This week | 4-week avg | Multiple | New to tape? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MRNA | $526.6M | $18.0M | 29.3× | No |
| AMGN | $110.5M | $5.7M | 19.3× | No |
| TJX | $25.2M | $1.8M | 13.9× | No |
| CVX | $172.4M | $15.3M | 11.3× | No |
| CEG | $56.5M | $5.6M | 10.1× | No |
| MRK | $31.9M | $3.5M | 9× | No |
| KLAC | $254.3M | $34.5M | 7.4× | No |
| ABBV | $17.0M | $2.4M | 7.1× | No |
| WFC | $52.0M | $7.8M | 6.7× | No |
| JNJ | $74.5M | $11.6M | 6.4× | No |
Methodology and data coverage
This report covers weekly options market activity from 2026-08-17 through 2026-08-21, built from the same OPRA-tape signal pipeline and conviction grading (QUALIFIED / PASS) used across Profit Builders' live scanner. Read the Profit Builders methodology for the full grading logic and a published results log.
What this data does not tell you: Observed options activity describes reported trade size, classification, and contract structure. It does not predict price direction, confirm investor intent, or constitute investment advice. Large premium in a name can reflect hedging, spread legs, market-maker activity, or other non-directional activity. Read the Profit Builders methodology for how signals are classified and what QUALIFIED and PASS mean.
See how Profit Builders classifies unusual options flow and monitors contract-level activity in the live scanner — the same engine behind this report.