Options Pros Jettison S&P 500 Hedges as Rally Forces About-Face

For equity-options traders, greed now has firmly replaced fear as they dive into bullish positions on expectations that US stocks will extend their rebound from the depths seen last month.

On US exchanges, the volume of call options relative to put contracts is hovering at the highest level since Feb. 18, a day before the S&P 500 Index clocked its last record. Call buying is a bet stocks are going up, while put buying insures against a market drop.