In this month’s OPEX Effect, Brent Kochuba and Jack Forehand break down the forces driving markets into November expiration. They cover the surge in volatility, Nvidia’s critical earnings event, the clustering of major catalysts, the behind-the-scenes hedging flows that shape price action, and why this expiration looks fundamentally different from the recent call-heavy cycles. The conversation blends macro uncertainty, options positioning, single-stock fragility, and the psychology of navigating markets that feel worse than they look. Topics Covered: • Why mega-cap AI names now dominate market behavior • Why volatility feels “back,” even with markets near all-time highs • The role of retail and institutional options activity in driving hedging flows • How delta, gamma, implied volatility, and time interact in maintaining hedges • Why November’s cluster of Nvidia earnings, VIX expiration, and OPEX is so important • How volatility can mean revert after options positions roll off • The October 10 volatility spasm and what it revealed • Resetting from call-heavy markets to put-skewed positioning • Macro uncertainty, rate-cut probabilities, and political risk • Credit default swap spikes and the broader AI narrative • The difficulty of timing bubbles and speculative extremes • Value investing pain points during high-volatility periods • Why fundamental sellers may finally be stepping in • What the options market implies heading into December’s massive expiration Timestamps: 00:00 Mega-cap AI exposure and volatility setup 01:00 Why markets feel worse than they look 01:16 How hedging flows amplify market moves 16:14 Nvidia’s earnings, VIX expiration, and the volatility cluster 18:14 Why options volumes keep growing 20:58 How small orders snowball into large market-maker hedges 22:49 How OPEX resets positioning each month 25:00 Negative gamma, volatility spikes, and event catalysts 25:45 October’s volatility spasms explained 27:34 Why November is the most put-skewed expiration in months 32:00 Correlation breakdown and signs of fundamental selling 33:44 Macro uncertainties, shutdown risk, rate cuts, and CDS spikes 39:15 Market uncertainty, CPI gaps, and political anxiety 41:00 AI cracks, CoreWeave trouble, and credit risk 05:46 Bubble parallels and speculative excess 07:00 The pain of value investing in runaway markets 01:07:53 Wrap-up and closing comments
