U.S. stock futures are pointed lower once again this morning, as Wall Street frets ahead of a meeting later this week between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping. The meeting could be tense, as Trump has labeled China a currency manipulator and, more recently, said the U.S. could go it alone when dealing with North Korea. Elsewhere, economic data today includes reports on U.S. trade deficit and factory orders.

At last check, Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.25%, S&P 500 futures had fallen 0.35% and Nasdaq-100 futures were lower by 0.41%.

On the options front, volume arrived just below average for the past three months, with about 12.7 million calls and 11.3 million puts changing hands yesterday. On the CBOE, the single-session equity put/call volume ratio bounced to 0.67, while the 10-day moving average held at 0.64 for a fourth consecutive session.

Driving Monday’s options volume, Bank of America Corp (NYSE:BAC) is beginning to see some fraying on the edges of its bullish sentiment outlook, as Vetr and Citigroup both downgraded BAC stock. Elsewhere, call options picked up steam on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) after the company issued strong first-quarter deliveries, while Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO) drew over-the-top call volume ahead of today’s ex-dividend date.

Bank of America Corp (BAC)

If you were starting to think that BAC stock’s rally was long-in-the-tooth, you’re not alone. Analysts at Vetr downgraded the shares from “strong buy” to “buy” yesterday, and Citigroup cut BAC stock to “neutral” from “buy” bright and early this morning. The bulk of analysts still maintain a positive outlook on BAC stock, however, as Thomson/First Call reports that 24 of the 31 brokerage firms following the shares rate them a “buy” or better.

Options traders were not deterred by yesterday’s downgrade. BAC saw volume top 743,000 contracts, with calls snapping up 65% of the day’s take. What’s more, short-term options are also betting on a continued BAC stock rally. Specifically, the April put/call open interest ratio comes in at 0.53, with calls nearly doubling puts among options set to expire this month.

BAC has struggled of late, dipping below its 10-day and 50-day moving averages. But April options traders are still betting that the stock will close north of $26 before expiration, as more than 149,000 contracts currently reside at this front-month strike.

Tesla Inc (TSLA)

Tesla is on track to hit is first-quarter deliveries goals. Over the weekend, the company said it delivered just more than 25,000 vehicles for the quarter, putting Tesla a little over halfway to its first-half deliveries target of between 47,000 and 50,000 vehicles. Hitting delivery targets will be a major driver for TSLA stock this year, as Tesla ramps up production for the Model 3.

TSLA stock jumped more than 7% on the news, pushing Tesla to a record high and eclipsing Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) as the No 2. U.S. automaker in terms of market cap. The news helped spur options volume on the day to more than 616,000 contracts, marking a near-term high in speculative activity. Calls accounted for 57% of the day’s take.

Despite the boost in confidence, short-term traders remain largely ambivalent toward TSLA stock. For instance, the April put/call OI ratio of 1.16 indicates that puts outnumber calls among short-term options. That said, peak put OI for the series totals 4,875 contracts at the deep out-of-the-money $250 strike, and is mostly likely comprised of protective puts and put sell positions instead of outright bets that TSLA shares will decline.

Cisco Systems, Inc. (CSCO)

CSCO stock was flooded with call activity on Friday, and a little digging reveals that the most likely culprit is the fact that the shares are trading ex-dividend today. Shareholders of record as of the close on Monday are eligible for a cash dividend of 29 cents per share payable on April 26.

The effect on CSCO’s options pits was immediately apparent, as calls made up 94% of the more than 278,000 contracts traded on Monday, with all activity likely geared toward dividend capture strategies.

Unfortunately for CSCO stockholders, the dividend is likely the only joy they’ll see for a while. Cisco had a banner month in February, but the shares have spent the past several weeks fighting for support in the $34 region.

That battle now appears to be lost, with CSCO drifting further below $34 with every session. In fact, it may be time to take a look at potentially shorting CSCO stock.

As of this writing, Joseph Hargett did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.