The Week Ahead 2/17
SPY range analysis, + 2 stocks & 1 ETF to watch
Good Morning Substack,
Earnings
Economic Calendar
Wednesday, February 18
Fed Minutes
Housing Market Insights
Thursday, February 19
Jobless Claims
Multiple Fed Speakers Pre-market
Friday, February 20
GDP
Inflation Numbers (PCE/Core PCE)
SPY Analysis
The SPY is set to open this week’s trade around the bottom of a 4% range, which it has now spent the entirety of 2026 trading through.
Let’s dive in to see what exactly was occurring in the options market during each of the key sessions that marked highs and lows of the current range during 2026.
Over the last 6 weeks, we have seen two major trends play out at key highs and lows of the current range.
Dips to the 675-680 range have been met with September OTM call buying, with most of the activity targeting strikes 715-765
Rips above 690 towards 695 have been met with March OTM put option accumulation, targeting the 660-650 strikes
There are also previously accumulated puts at the 2/20 expiration that are expiring this week, and plenty of trapped money below
The continued accumulation of March puts seems to signify that the bottom of the current range can only hold for so long before it gives out to allow lower price exploration.
Potential future downside can also be part of the reason bullish participants are positioning with extra time to expiration, as they could look to weather the volatility.
SPY pivots
