Trader spent $24 million on QQQ call spread betting Nasdaq-100 hits record by month-end

According to CNBC, a trader spent $24 million on a three-part call spread in the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF on Thursday that would require the Nasdaq-100 index to reach an all-time high by the end of this month. The position included a $30 million purchase of 28,000 736-strike calls expiring July 31 and the sale of $6 million of a 730/740-strike call spread expiring the same date, lifting the breakeven to about $750, less than $2 above QQQ’s early-June high; the Nasdaq 100 has been effectively flat since May 14 and last made a high on June 3. Of the $1.6 billion in QQQ options traded Thursday, $944 million was tied to calls, while data indicated roughly equal numbers of puts and calls were bought and sold. Elsewhere, a trader bought 2,000 deep in-the-money 500-strike calls on the S&P 500 ETF SPY expiring July 24 for $50 million, and another bought $46 million of Oklo 200-strike calls expiring in January 2028 plus $21 million of 90-strike calls expiring in mid-December, with the stock trading at $50.