Okay kiddo, so there's this thing called an "options market" where people can buy or sell special contracts that give them the right to do certain things with stocks. Like, they can choose to buy or sell a stock at a specific price and time in the future. This used to be for really smart grown-ups, but now more people are using it because it's easier and there are new ways to play with these options. The number of contracts being traded every day has gone up a lot in recent years, especially during the big virus lockdown when people stayed at home and started learning about this options thing. So, the options market is getting more popular and bigger! Read from source...

- The article claims that options trading has become increasingly popular among the general investing public in recent years. However, this statement is vague and does not provide any evidence or statistics to support it. Moreover, it fails to mention any potential risks or downsides of options trading for non-experts.
- The article credits innovation as another factor contributing to the growth of the options market, but it only mentions one example: weekly index options. This is a weak and biased argument, as there are many other innovations in the options industry that could have also contributed to the growth, such as mobile apps, online platforms, educational resources, etc. The article should acknowledge these alternatives and provide more details on how they affect the market.
- The article cites the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns as an inflection point in options trading, but it does not explain why or how this situation increased retail investors' understanding and usage of options. It also ignores any other external factors that might have influenced the growth of the options market, such as market volatility, economic conditions, regulations, etc.
- The article relies heavily on data from the Options Clearing Corporation (OCC), but it does not provide any context or sources for this data. It also uses outdated figures for 2019 and 2022, which might not reflect the current situation accurately. The article should update these numbers and compare them with other relevant indicators, such as trading volume, open interest, liquidity, etc.