Analysis: Retail investors are dominating the U.S. stock options market, with a large-scale buying on dips occurring last week

KobeissiLetter published an analysis of the US stock market, noting that in the third quarter of 2025, the total quarterly options volume exceeded 3.5 billion contracts for the first time, doubling the total options trading volume over the past 5 years. Previously, retail investor participation in the US stock market reached a record 55% last quarter, meaning that retail investors now account for the majority of market trading. Since 2023, this percentage has increased by 10 percentage points, compared to a 5-year average of about 49%.

Meanwhile, during last week's market pullback, there was one of the largest buy-the-dip events ever recorded, with retail investors dominating the US stock options market.