SMH ETF Puts Were Sold, Not Bought: Bullish Signal

Let me correct the premise first, then answer directly.

SMH wasn't actually put-dominant yesterday. In the ETF-level flow for 9/9, SMH was net bullish — $20.7M bullish premium vs $7.7M bearish (73% bullish share). So the "put dominant" read isn't supported by the aggregate ETF numbers.

That said, the puts that did trade were overwhelmingly SOLD, not bought. From the 8-cell breakdown for SMH on 9/9:

Answer: The puts were predominantly SOLD ($18.4M) vs bought ($3.8M) — roughly 83% of put premium was sold/collected rather than bought.

What that means: Sold puts = institutions/MMs collecting premium — they're willing to own SMH at the strike and don't expect it to fall further. That's a bullish-reversal / income signal, not a bearish bet. Combined with $2.35M of bought calls, the day's SMH flow skews bullish (72.9% bullish share, net +$13.0M), with the put side acting as premium collection rather than directional downside pressure.

So to summarize: the puts were sold (collected), which actually reinforces a bullish/bottom-seeking posture rather than a bearish one.