I am a little late for mid day, but as of 1:30 PM the top ten most active option contracts traded today are:
- Citigroup September 5 Call Options
- PowerShares QQQ ETF (NASDAQ:QQQQ) September 38 Put Options
- Citigroup September 4 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF (NYSE:SPY) November 85 Put Options
- PowerShares QQQ ETF October 39 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF November 95 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF September 100 Put Options
- Citigroup September 5 Put Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF September 103 Call Options
- S&P 500 SPDR ETF September 103 Put Options
November being a few months away it is unusual to two of them in the top traded contracts; I am guessing someone has opened up a 95/85 put spread on the SPY. It also looks as if someone is expecting increased volatility to come and opened an at-the-money option straddle on SPY for the 103 strike price.