Look at storage for large-cap options, and mining machines for small-cap opportunities.

Last night, the broader market's storage chain was sweeping millions in Calls—SanDisk and Seagate each dumped single transactions of 7-8 million USD upwards. Among small caps, the first line to heat up alongside this trend is crypto mining machines: $Cipher Digital(CIFR.US) surged from $17.7 to $24.5 in a week. What I'm watching is which few trades in this downward drift are smooth, and which one looks most intimidating but is fundamentally untouchable.

$Cipher Digital(CIFR.US) had 1,000 August $24 Calls swept during trading on 7/22, with $300k in premium, where the strike price was almost touching the current price. This isn't a large speculative bet—$300k against a $10 billion market cap means the premium ratio is negligible. It's simply a momentum trade following the trend: short squeeze + the company just updated its Q2 earnings calendar + riding the AI computing narrative, these three catalysts combined ignited the stock price. However, it has already recovered significantly from its lows. Chasing at-the-money Calls now means chasing a past event. I will follow, but only with a small position, and only after it pulls back to $22 without breaking support; chasing at-the-money Calls directly at $24 is equivalent to taking over bags for the previous wave.

$Navitas Semiconductor(NVTS.US) saw $220k worth of near-at-the-money August $14 Calls bought, driven by themes in compound semiconductors and AI power supplies; however, this stock dropped from $13 to $12.7 over the week, with downward momentum. More critically, on 7/22, Renesas directly sued it for stealing trade secrets—the sword of law hangs overhead. Buying Calls in a weak trend is essentially betting on a reversal. If you want to participate, treat it as a small bet on Zhang Bo's rebound, don't go heavy.

For packaging and testing,$Amkor Tech(AMKR.US), selling December $65 Puts collected $799k, the largest single premium amount among all small caps. But understand the direction clearly—this indicates the seller is willing to take delivery at $65 and collect rent across the 7/27 earnings report, not a starting gun for you to day trade. The stock fell from $72 to $63 and climbed back to $67 in between; the cost basis for selling Puts is compressed at this valley edge. Viewing it as an anchor for taking delivery has value: falling near $65 represents the pain point recognized by institutions; however, with earnings next Monday, weigh the event risk yourself. I only use it as a reference for "the price others are willing to take delivery at," not as a reason to chase the rally.