Traders Who Bought VIX Calls Last Week Get Protection From Rout.

Traders who purchased inexpensive VIX call options last week are finding some protection from the recent global tech selloff that impacted Nvidia Corp. and wiped out over $400 billion in market value. The demand for VIX calls surged as the index dropped below 15, prompting traders to buy over 200,000 lots of February 22 and 23 calls. The increase in call buying led to a record high skew, indicating a preference for calls predicting a rise in the VIX over puts. The market reacted to concerns about DeepSeek threatening America's AI dominance, causing the VIX to rise above 22, and some traders are now selling puts to capitalize on potential market stabilization. [Extracted from the article]