U.S. stocks ended close to flat on Monday after a volatile session that saw shares drop early following weekend U.S. and Israeli air strikes on Iran, but there were bounces throughout the day as investors bought on dips.

Regarding the options market, a total volume of 59,375,761 contracts was traded on Monday, of which 55% were call options.

Top 10 Option Volumes

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Shares of Palantir Technologies, a company that recently played a role in the capture of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, gained 5.8% in on Monday.

The U.S. Defense Department's Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract vehicle reflects a shift toward acquiring commercial cloud services across classification levels.

Software-native companies like Palantir operate directly in that layer, providing analytics and AI systems through mult-year government contracts. Recent analyst coverage has highlighted the company's expanding government engagements and recurring-revenue profile.

There are 810.58K Palantir option contracts traded on Monday, of which 62% were call options. Call options related to PLTR showed big gains on Monday. For example, the $145 strike call option expiring this Friday soared 246%.

Unusual Options Activity

Defense stocks have been treated as a geopolitical barometer. When tensions rise and military conflict breaks out, shares climb. When headlines cool, the trade fades. It's a narrative built around procurement cycles and crisis-driven spending. The attack on Iran on Saturday by the U.S. and Israel should repeat this pattern for defense stocks in coming days.

"Defense spending was already set to surge in 2026 and a protracted war with Iran will make the spending more urgent and less controversial," Stifel analyst Jonathan Siegmann said in a Monday note to clients.

Options related to defense stocks and oil sectors showed high volume on Monday. For example, There are 121,774 RTX option contracts traded on Monday, 7.2 times higher than the 90-day average trading volume.

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