The Unspoken Market Maker Strike That Kills High-Risk Earnings Plays

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Something caught me off guard this week while watching Nvidia (NVDA) earnings unfold.

Around 2 p.m. ET, I realized there were no 0DTE contracts listed for the session.

No same-day expiration. At first, I assumed it was some kind of platform issue because 0DTE has become one of the primary ways traders play earnings volatility, especially during that chaotic post-close window between 4 p.m. and 4:15 p.m. ET.

But after digging into it, it became clear this wasn’t a glitch at all.

Word started circulating that there was a hidden exchange ban in place. But the deeper market structure reality is even more fascinating.

CBOE actually expanded the rules earlier this year, officially listing short-dated Monday and Wednesday expirations for mega-cap names like NVIDIA and Tesla (TSLA).

So why did the same-day chain seem to vanish by 2 p.m.? Because market makers aren’t suicidal.

Facing massive, immediate earnings gamma on a contract expiring in just two hours, liquidity providers effectively pulled the plug — widening spreads into oblivion and choking off liquidity.

It wasn’t an exchange policy ban. It was a structural liquidity strike designed to force order flow into the next expiration cycle.

Still, the impact on trading behavior was significant.

Why This Matters

For a lot of active options traders, 0DTE earnings trades became one of the cleanest ways to express short-term volatility.

Traders could isolate the immediate post-earnings move without carrying additional overnight exposure.

Without same-day expirations available, the entire structure changes.

Instead of trading a brief post-close volatility event, traders were pushed into 1DTE contracts, which creates a completely different risk profile.

Now you’re dealing with overnight positioning, broader macro movement and additional implied volatility considerations that don’t exist in a true 0DTE setup.

As a result, many traders adapted quickly.

Iron condors became more attractive because they allowed traders to define risk while still benefiting from volatility compression after earnings.

Others shifted toward butterflies, calendars or wider premium-selling structures that gave price more room to move.

And honestly, this may not be a bad thing…

The combination of earnings volatility and 0DTE flow has created some extremely unstable price action over the last couple years.

Removing same-day expirations from certain earnings sessions may help reduce some of that disorder around the close.

The Bigger Market Structure Question

This matters beyond just NVDA because 0DTE now dominates options flow.

More than half of daily index option volume now comes from 0DTE trading.

Any structural adjustment involving expirations — even small ones — can influence liquidity behavior, hedging activity and post-earnings volatility.

That’s why I’m paying close attention to whether this becomes a more consistent pattern going forward.

If market makers continue pulling the plug on same-day expirations during massive mega-cap earnings, traders will need to keep adapting toward slightly longer-duration structures and more balanced risk setups.

The main takeaway is simple: If you actively trade earnings, pay attention to the expiration calendar before planning the trade.

The structure itself may now matter just as much as the earnings reaction.

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Nate Tucci
Tucci Trades

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