Materials Costs in Your Bids: What GTA Terminal Data Shows in Aggregates, Steel and the Materials Fund (November 2026)

Stone, sand, concrete and steel are line items in nearly every bid a contractor writes. When those costs rise between the bid and the pour, the margin is what gets squeezed. You cannot see next quarter's prices, but you can watch how investors are positioning in the companies that produce them. Here is a simple way to keep an eye on materials costs, and what GTA Terminal data from Global Traders Academy showed for Monday, November 9, 2026.

Two places to watch materials prices

The first is the Producer Price Index, the monthly report on what businesses pay for goods before they reach the end customer. It covers construction inputs such as steel mill products and ready-mix concrete, so it often shows cost pressure before it reaches your supplier's invoice. GTA has a clear explainer on what the producer price report measures and why markets watch it.

The second is the materials sector itself. A materials fund holds chemical, mining, steel and construction-materials companies, so its price and options flow show what investors expect from demand for basic inputs. See GTA's primer on the materials sector fund and what it holds.

November 9: the materials fund lined up bullish

GTA Terminal data showed the materials fund XLB closing at $52.94 on November 9, above its 20-day average of $51.75 and its 50-day average of $50.92, and 3% below its 52-week high with an RSI of 60. In the latest scan, 72% of its options premium went to calls and 28% to puts, with 3 unusual contracts. GTA found the chart, the options flow and the dark pools all leaning bullish, with the 20-day average at $51.75 as the level to hold. The details are in the materials fund levels and flow check for November 9.

Aggregates got the calls, steel was more cautious

The producers of crushed stone and sand drew the most bullish options money. GTA Terminal data for the latest session through November 9:

• Vulcan Materials: 85% of options premium in calls. Off-exchange volume averaged 517,960 shares a day over five sessions, 21% less than the five before, so dark pool activity cooled. See the Vulcan Materials five-session dark pool record.

• Martin Marietta: 90% of options premium in calls. Off-exchange volume averaged 548,563 shares a day, 14% more than the five sessions before, with 47.5% of November 9 volume off-exchange.

• Steel Dynamics: only 40% of options premium in calls and 60% in puts, a put-heavy lean, even as off-exchange volume rose 16% to an average of 438,719 shares a day. See the Steel Dynamics off-exchange trend through November 9.

• Nucor: 53% calls and 47% puts, close to balanced, with off-exchange volume steady at 728,436 shares a day, 1% above the prior five sessions.

So the read is split by material. Investors leaned bullish on stone and the sector overall, but steel money was cautious to bearish.

What this means for your bids

• Build in an escalation clause for aggregates. Bullish bets on stone producers suggest investors expect firm demand and pricing. On longer jobs, a materials escalation clause protects your margin if quarry prices rise.

• Steel may give you room. Put-leaning money in Steel Dynamics and balanced flow in Nucor point to less certainty on steel demand. Shop several suppliers before locking a price.

• Check the producer price report monthly. It is a cheap early warning for the costs you will see from suppliers.

• Busy materials markets mean busy fleets. Strong aggregate demand often means more hauling and loading work, which is when contractors add trucks, loaders and excavators.

A signal, not a guarantee

Options flow and dark pool volume show where money moved on given days, not what prices will do. Treat them as a signal, not a guarantee. This article is for business planning and is not investment advice.

Keep reading

For last week's data on the same producers, read steel vs. stone: what big money did in Nucor, Steel Dynamics and Vulcan. For the factory side of the cycle, see the ISM manufacturing PMI for contractors.

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