We find that the demand for stock option positions that increase exposure to the underlying is positively related to measures of investor sentiment and past market returns, while the demand for index options is invariant to these factors. These differences in trading patterns are reflected in...

A crowded trade emerges when speculators' positions are large relative to the asset's liquidity, making exit difficult. We study this problem of recent regulatory concern by focusing on short-selling. We show that days to cover (DTC), the ratio of short interest to trading volume, measures the...

The question of whether and to what extent option trading impacts underlying stock prices has been of interest since options began exchange-based trading in 1973. Recent research presents evidence of an informational channel through which option trading impacts stock prices by showing that...