Alpha Flow
$10.4M CIFR LEAPS, $38M HTZ Straddle, and HOOD's Big Bull Bet
Wednesday, April 08, 2026 | Alpha Pod
Executive Summary
Broad put-selling defined the session with no real sector conviction. Homebuilders were the standout theme — XHB call buying drove the highest-conviction bullish reading at 72% — while Technology absorbed $564M in premium but diluted its 60% bull lean with heavy call-selling. Financial Services leaned bullish only because crypto-adjacent names (CIFR, HOOD) carried the weight, not traditional banks. Utilities and Basic Materials were effectively flat.
The three trades worth knowing: HTZ — a $38.3M short straddle at $9 (May 22) rolled from expiring April positions, a massive pinning/yield bet with the stock at $6.19. CIFR — $10.4M in $15 calls bought (Jan 2027), the session’s cleanest single-leg directional bet, an at-the-money LEAPS position in the crypto miner. QQQ — $53.1M in $573 puts bought (Apr 13), the single largest thematic trade, which by itself kept the entire AI/Cloud Megacap basket near neutral despite bullish NVDA and AAPL flow elsewhere.
SPY closed at $659.22 and the dominant bet of the session was bearish: a $12.8M $645/$630 put spread (Apr 10) targeting a 2–4% drawdown by Friday. Another $12M in standalone $660 puts (Apr 10) reinforced the downside lean. The call side mustered only $6M in a $679/$668 spread (Apr 10) and $7.3M in $660 calls sold (Apr 8) — capping today’s expiry at the current price. Institutional SPX flow offers a counterpoint: a $10.9M $6750/$6700 call spread (Apr 9) targets a bounce into Thursday, but in dollar terms the put side leads 2-to-1.
Unusual Flow
CRML -- $2.1M in bearish positioning anchored by $10 puts bought (+5.7K, Aug 21) paired with $10 calls sold (+5.5K, Aug 21), a textbook risk-reversal targeting downside through summer. One of the session’s cleanest bearish setups in Basic Materials.
RIOT -- Overwhelmingly bearish flow with $15 calls sold (+9.6K, Apr 10) expiring this week and structured put flow at $13.50 (+9.5K, Apr 17) and $14 (+9.3K, Apr 17) strikes next week. Crypto miners are getting hedged aggressively even as IBIT and CIFR draw bullish attention in the top 10.
CGON -- $1.7M in heavily bullish structured call flow across $70 calls bought (+980, May 15) and $80/$90 call spreads through June, all opening positions ahead of May earnings. An under-the-radar healthcare name drawing conviction positioning.
