TSLA Stands Out as Options Traders Eye Extended Hours and Musk's $1 Trillion Pay Package

TSLA ranked 25th in retail ticker discussion on August 15, with 8 posts and 40 comments.
CBOE's plan to offer pre-market trading for select equity options, including TSLA, sparked conversation in r/options.
Elon Musk's potential $1 trillion pay package, tied to an $8.5 trillion market cap, was a major same-day news topic.

Tesla (

$TSLA) was a notable presence in retail-investor discussion on August 15, 2026, ranking 25th in overall ticker mentions with 8 posts and 40 comments. The conversation centered on two distinct catalysts: a CBOE announcement about extended options trading hours and a newly approved compensation package for CEO Elon Musk.

Pre-Market Options Trading Draws Attention

A post in r/options highlighted that the CBOE plans to begin pre-market trading for select equity options starting Monday, August 17. The list includes major tech and finance names, with

$TSLA among them. Trading would begin at 7:30 AM ET, with a 15-minute curb session after the regular close. The post noted that brokers would need to enable access, and many likely won't immediately.

This news resonated with retail traders who frequently trade highly liquid names like TSLA. In r/daytrading, a trader mentioned TSLA as one of their go-to liquid stocks for 0DTE options, alongside SPX, SPY, NVDA, and AAPL. The extended hours could offer more flexibility for those who rely on quick moves in these names.

Musk's $1 Trillion Pay Package

Same-day news from The Motley Fool detailed Elon Musk's performance-based compensation package, which could be worth up to $1 trillion if Tesla reaches an $8.5 trillion market cap—a 635% increase from its current $1.34 trillion valuation. The package rewards Musk only if the company hits operational and valuation milestones, with supporters arguing it aligns incentives for long-term value creation.

Critics, however, worry the targets overemphasize market cap sentiment and give Musk excessive influence. The article noted that Tesla's success depends on commercializing autonomous driving, scaling robotics, and developing new revenue streams beyond electric vehicles. This news likely contributed to the mild positive sentiment (0.14) observed in Reddit discussions.

TSLA

Retail Sentiment and Engagement

Across subreddits, TSLA-related posts generated 64 upvotes and 40 comments. The sentiment was slightly positive, with r/swingtrading showing a notably bullish average sentiment of 0.75, while r/daytrading had a more moderate 0.34. The rank delta of 79 indicates TSLA moved up significantly in discussion rankings, likely driven by the options trading news and the pay package story.

While the CBOE announcement is a structural change that could affect how retail traders access options, the pay package story is a longer-term narrative about Tesla's growth ambitions. Both topics kept TSLA in the spotlight on a Saturday, when trading volumes are typically lower but discussion often remains active.

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