A trader works during the Hawkeye 360 Inc. initial public offering (IPO) on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, US, on Thursday, May 7, 2026.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Stock bulls proved resilient in the face of what could have been the worst sell-off in the Nasdaq 100 since March, as the index staged a 1.5% intraday rally into the close and the S&P 500 ended less than 12 points lower on Tuesday.

The turbulence helped sort out where options traders have the most conviction.

Most notable might be that volatility in the S&P 500 as measured by the Cboe VIX Index ended down on the day, despite a brief pop to 19.01, the highest since April 28.…