Monday's Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) and Tesla Inc (TSLA)

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U.S. stock futures are mixed this morning, as Wall Street struggles for new highs heading into what could be a volatile week. House Republicans unveiled their tax plan this weekend to mixed reviews, and President Trump embarked on a tour of Asia in an effort to ostensibly reach a diplomatic solution on North Korea. However, many investors will be paying close attention to Trump’s comments on North Korea, which have been quite inflammatory in the past.

Monday’s Vital Data: Apple Inc. (AAPL), Qualcomm, Inc. (QCOM) and Tesla Inc (TSLA) Heading into the open, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures are up 0.12%, S&P 500 futures have risen 0.02% and Nasdaq-100 futures are up 0.07%.

On the options front, volume remained brisk on Friday, with about 19.8 million calls and 15.7 million puts changing hands on the session. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio fell to 0.60, while the 10-day moving average held at 0.64.

Taking a closer look at Friday’s options activity, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) call options gained considerable traction after the company saw non-iPhone sales rise 24%. Meanwhile, Qualcomm, Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) options speculation surged as rumors hit that Broadcom Ltd (NASDAQ:AVGO) was planning a $100 billion-plus bid for the chipmaker. Finally, Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its “production hell” quip thrown back in its face after poor third-quarter earnings.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)

Apple silenced quite a few bears last week when it beat third-quarter earnings expectations. While iPhone sales still remain below historical levels, the company banked on a 24% jump in non-iPhone sales, which came in at $23.1 billion on the quarter. Apple also set iPhone deliveries within expectations following the launch of the iPhone X last week.

That said, some analysts were quick to point out that Wall Street’s expectations had fallen since the September iPhone 8 event, and that these lowered expectations were the only reason Apple was able to turn in an earnings beat.

Options traders were happy with the results, however, as calls made up an above average 67% of Friday’s take, which came in at more than 1.4 million contracts. However, the November put/call open interest ratio of 0.80 indicates that there are still more than a few bears betting that AAPL stock is due for a pullback. In fact, put OI has ballooned to more than 15,500 contracts at the $165 strike, with another 40,000 at the Nov $160 strike.

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