How to read unusual options flow
Options activity becomes unusual when contract volume materially exceeds its normal baseline or open interest, when the estimated premium is large, or when traders concentrate in contracts far from the current stock price. The scanner ranks those conditions so you can investigate the strongest outliers first.
A bullish tag does not guarantee the underlying will rise. Calls can be sold, puts can hedge long stock, and large trades may be one leg of a spread. Use the tag as a starting hypothesis, then confirm with price action, volatility, catalysts, gamma exposure, and the broader tape.
What the scanner measures
- Estimated premium multiplies displayed volume by the contract midpoint and the standard 100-share multiplier.
- Volume / OI compares today’s displayed contract volume with prior open positions.
- Direction estimates buying or selling from the last price relative to bid and ask.
- Unusual score ranks volume spikes, large premium, and far-out-of-the-money concentration.
Data timing and limitations
This public view uses delayed chain snapshots and refreshes every 60 seconds during regular market hours. Outside those hours it keeps the latest session’s strongest activity on screen. The figures represent aggregate contract activity—not a time-and-sales feed—and cannot identify a trader, strategy, spread, opening trade, or closing trade.
Learn more
- Unusual Options Activity: How to Detect Smart Money Moves — A practical guide to identifying and acting on unusual options activity that may signal informed trading.
- Reading Options Flow for Direction: A Practical Guide — How to interpret real-time options flow to gauge directional bias, with practical examples and common pitfalls.
- Options Volume vs Open Interest: Understanding the Difference — How to use volume and open interest together to analyze options activity.
- Sweeps vs Blocks in Options Trading: What is the Difference? — Understanding the difference between sweep orders and block trades in options flow and why it matters.
- What is Options Flow? Understanding Order Flow Tracking — Learn how to track and interpret options order flow to gain insight into institutional and smart money positioning.