The Options Desk
The Options Desk · Week of Sep 21, 2026

What Options Priced Into the Week of Sep 21, 2026

Every US name reporting that week — the implied move vs. its historical earnings move — plus the SPY/QQQ/IWM expected ranges and walls. Anchored to the prior Friday’s close (Sep 18, 2026).

The Index Read · What Options Price for the Week

That week’s US macro: New Home Sales, Initial Jobless Claims, Continuing Jobless Claims, Jobless Claims 4-Week Average, Durable Goods Orders Ex Transp MoM. Here’s the weekly move options are pricing across the majors — and the walls that box it in.

implied range put wall hedge wall spot call wall
SPY S&P 500
implied ±1.1%
spot $761.69
$753.31–$770.07 · put 745 · hedge 761 · call 780
QQQ Nasdaq-100
implied ±1.6%
spot $721.45
$709.91–$732.99 · put 700 · hedge 718 · call 720
IWM Russell 2000
implied ±1.6%
spot $284.10
$279.55–$288.65 · put 280 · hedge 291 · call 300
How to read the walls

● Put wall — support. Heavy put positioning tends to act as a floor.

● Hedge wall — the pivot. Above it moves dampen (range-bound); below it they accelerate.

● Call wall — resistance. Heavy call positioning tends to cap the upside. More on call, put and hedge walls.

Walls move every trading day; these are Friday’s close (Sep 18). OptionPilot recomputes them each morning before the open.

The Macro Calendar · US Releases That Week

The scheduled US data inside this week’s expiry — the events the index ranges above already have to cover.

DateEventImpact
Thu Sep 24New Home Sales (Aug)High
Thu Sep 24Initial Jobless Claims (Sep/19)High
Thu Sep 24Continuing Jobless Claims (Sep/12)High
Thu Sep 24Jobless Claims 4-Week Average (Sep/19)High
Fri Sep 25Durable Goods Orders Ex Transp MoM (Aug)High
Fri Sep 25Durable Goods Orders MoM (Aug)High
Fri Sep 25Durable Goods Orders Ex Defense MoM (Aug)High

The Earnings Read · Every US Name Reporting That Week (Mon–Fri)

5 US companies report the week of Sep 21. The widest implied move is BB at ±12.8%; the biggest name reporting is COST at ±3.6%. Against their own earnings history, 4 are priced rich and 0 have room to run.

What the options market priced into each report — versus how much the stock has actually moved on its past prints. Sorted by market cap within each day.

Stock & reportMkt
cap
Options
implied
Actual move
avg · max
The tell
Mon Sep 21
ABVXpost-mkt$8B±8.7%±5.8%
max 22%
1.5× RICH
Wed Sep 23
CTASpre-mkt$79B±4.8%±3.9%
max 11%
1.2× RICH
Thu Sep 24
COSTpost-mkt$397B±3.6%±2.6%
max 6%
1.4× RICH
UECpre-mkt$5B±8.2%±6.1%
max 12%
1.3× RICH
BBpre-mkt$5B±12.8%±12.3%
max 24%
FAIRLY PRICED

Implied move = live ATM straddle for the expiry covering the report. Actual move = the stock’s own 1-day earnings reaction over its last reported quarters — avg is typical, max the biggest. “pre/post-mkt” = reports before the open / after the close. “Can run more” = options price less than history; “rich” = more; “outsized premium” = far above (usually a special catalyst).

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Educational, not investment advice. Options involve risk. Implied moves reflect live at-the-money straddle prices; historical moves are averages of past reported quarters and are not a forecast.