Russell 2000 futures flat trading in Russell 2000 futures at

Flat trading in Russell 2000 futures at 1,942 shows market indecision post-economic data. A sustained move above 1,955 would reassert short-term bullish control. We're now approaching the halfway point of the day. Stocks have sunk from their warm open to the week, with the Nasdaq (+0.50%) and S&P 500 (+0.21%) as the only two indexes which have clung to some of their day gains. Meanwhile, the Russell 2000 (-0.05%) and Dow (-0.16%) have now declined. Putting all of this information together, I want to put on a bullish option structure in Russell 2000 options. I look to the expiration that contains the FOMC meeting because I think not only the reality of rate cuts, but the discussion of potentially more rate cuts are a key catalyst for a bullish move. Volatility is not demanding and if there is a move to and through the all-time highs, I might expect to see implied volatility benefit relatively speaking. There is fundamental and technical support for a bullish move; it may just need this catalyst to draw investor attention away from large-cap indices and into smallcap indices. An important consideration for me is the extremely large short base in Russell 2000 futures. I read this to mean that moves lower will see profit-taking buying and moves higher could potentially see short-covering. As a result, I am comfortable to sell 2300 puts which sit right at the top of the Ichimoku cloud where leveraged funds might want to cover some short. The 2400 calls sit below the all-time high, and as futures move higher, I think the all-time high, hit back in 2021 and again in late 2024, comes into focus. Because I chose lower delta options, the skew is favorable, which enables me to sell 1 2300 put and use the premium to buy two of the 2400 calls, giving me more leverage to an upside move that I can get from futures alone. Doing the trade at roughly zero cost gives me more staying power versus buying calls outright, though with implied volatility in line with historical volatility, simply buying the 2400 calls may make sense too. I prefer the incremental leverage I can get in a zero-cost idea. The risk, of course, is a move lower, especially a sharp move lower. I do think the move lower would see some speed bumps because there is already such a large short base; however, a trader would need to be prepared to either cover the short 2300 puts at a loss or sell futures against the overall position if the catalyst does not play out as expected or if there is new information that drives futures lower. Russell 2000 futures climb to 1,950, marking a fresh two-week high driven by industrial and tech gains. Volume is running 12% above average, reinforcing breakout potential.