Options Traders Are Getting More Bearish on S&P 500 Stocks

In the last 10 days, puts have steadily increased in popularity

Patrick Martin

Managing Editor

Feb 4, 2026 at 2:28 PM

With stocks once more swimming in red ink amid another tech sector rotation, options traders are starting to jump ship. Per Trade-Alert, the number of S&P 500 Index (SPX) stocks with a 10-day, buy-to-open put/call ratio over 1.00 now sits at 25.4%.

In other words, one-fourth, or 125 stocks on the SPX have a put skew that outflanks a call skew in the last two weeks. This is the largest reading since May 20, 2025. It will be interesting to see if there's an unwinding of these bearish bets, or this is just the beginning of a sentiment shift on Wall Street.

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