Apple ($AAPL) up 30% year-to-date... options near 900,000 contracts

Apple ($AAPL) shares hit an all-time intraday high on the 11th, lifting their year-to-date gain to 30% as options volume approached 900,000 contracts. Roughly 500,000 call contracts and 370,000 put contracts traded in the first half of the session, with put-call open interest easing to 0.87 from 0.95 as same-day flow tilted toward calls. The activity came as traders sought a defensive haven within tech following last week's tech selloff, a semiconductor bear market and lingering rate-hike concerns. The heavy call skew signals renewed bullish positioning into the company's upcoming earnings, making that report and any shift in the put-call ratio the next focal points.