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I love when the market hands you a gift-wrapped setup with a giant bow on top…
Recently, we spotted something wild in American Airlines (AAL) — the kind of option flow that makes you stop what you’re doing. We saw 50,000 call options hit the tape, a 700% jump over the usual 4,000 calls. That’s over 12 times the normal amount of call activity, and it demands attention.
This was not retail traders chasing noise. The positioning was aggressive across multiple expirations including May 15, May 7 and April 11. When you see that spread, you’re looking at conviction — not speculation.
The most logical catalyst? A potential merger or buyout in American Airlines.
My assistant Christian jumped on this and banked 25% in about 10 minutes. That’s the type of move you get when you’re riding alongside institutional flow.
The Numbers That Matter
The call buying totaled $1.1 million versus $136,000 in puts — so calls dominated the board. Beneath the surface, the total position represented 3.5 million share equivalents, which at $12 per share works out to roughly $42 million in stock-equivalent exposure.
That’s not Johnny playing around at the local bingo hall with a $50,000 account. This is big institutional money — we are talking Buffett-, Icahn- and Ackman-level positioning.
When someone steps in with that kind of size, something is brewing. Line up the clues and the idea of a major corporate move is hard to ignore.
The Bigger Picture on Airlines
This American Airlines setup fits a broader theme I’ve been tracking. Airlines benefit when crude oil prices slide because energy is one of their biggest expenses.
When crude cools off, margins widen fast.
The Trump administration has been working to push crude lower, creating a tailwind for airlines and cruise lines. These names have already started to lift as fuel prices ease, and that environment makes institutional positioning even more compelling.
Combine falling fuel costs with the possibility of a major corporate event and you get a setup heavyweight players cannot resist. This activity signals smart money lining up early for something big.
This is why tracking unusual option activity matters. You see where the biggest players place their chips long before the rest of the market catches on. When the tape flashes a signal this bold, you do not ignore it.
Here are a couple of the most recent orders:
Order Flow:
This is for informational and educational purposes only. These are not official alerts issued by Lance, but rather some interesting orders picked by the team at Lance Ippolito Trading.
When you look at these plays, always take the market maker move into consideration.
You can be right on the direction but still lose money if the stock doesn’t move enough. That’s where the market maker move comes in clutch.
With puts, they’re often downside hedges in case a stock tanks, especially around earnings. The further out of the money they are, the more likely they are to be hedges.
Also be sure and check when the company’s earnings date is because many of the plays we post here are centered around earnings!
If a stock is really expensive, consider a spread to lower the cost.
And finally, always remember the golden rule when it comes to buying calls: Buy dips, sell rips — and don’t chase!
If a stock’s moved a ton already today, maybe wait for a pullback.
There is inherent risk in trading. Trade at your own risk.
Note: If no date is listed after the month, it’s the monthly expiration (third Friday).
The team at Lance Ippolito Trading
Lance doesn’t want the CCP spying on him, so you’ll never find him on TikTok. Same goes for other social media sites, which are filled with impersonators, scammers and crypto bros.
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Important Note: No one from the team at Lance Ippolito Trading, New Money Crew or any of its associated brands will ever contact you directly on Telegram.
*This is for informational and educational purposes only. There is inherent risk in trading, so trade at your own risk.
P.S. We’ve Clocked 200 Winners Trading the Market’s Most Repeated Daily Pattern
By playing a pattern the market repeats daily no matter what…
We’ve been able to stay immune from some of the worst market conditions in the last year.
Be it the war with Iran this year or the tariff war last year, my No. 1 daily approach has kept us floating and in the green.
Want to see how it works?
We develop tools and strategies to the best of our ability, but no one can guarantee the future. There is always a risk of loss when trading past performance is not indicative of future results. From 2/20/25 to 4/08/2026, the average win rate on live published trade alerts is 89.5%. The average weighted rate of return on options trades was 14.11% over a six-hour hold time.
