§22 OPTIONS_FLOW¶

OVERVIEW¶

Most options trade against positions that already exist. When a contract trades several times more than its open interest, someone is likely opening a large new position. Options flow flags those contracts and keeps them on a board for 24 hours. It shows you where big bets are being placed, not who placed them. Options flow needs a Pro plan.

OPTIONS_FLOW

WHAT IT IS¶

A detector sweeps a fixed list of 55 liquid underlyings — index and sector ETFs, mega-caps, and high-volume single names — every 15 minutes during market hours, half the list per pass, and flags a contract where:

volume >= 500 contracts
AND volume >= 2.5 × open interest

— very cheap contracts are skipped, and each stock shows at most five flagged contracts. Each flag gets a score (volume × ratio × last price) so big, concentrated, and expensive activity ranks first.

Above the tape, a rollup bar (one card per underlying) totals the last 24 hours of flagged flow: net flagged premium, a call-vs-put premium bar, a positioning-lean chip, the top strike, and one-click links to that ticker's options chain and gamma exposure.

WHEN TO USE IT¶

Pre-market / open: the overnight flags are the freshest evidence of what institutions did while you were away. Clusters on one ticker at 7:30 AM tell you where the day's energy is.

Mid-session tape-reading: a stock rips on no news — check flow first. A cluster of short-dated calls flagged an hour ago is the usual explanation.

Earnings / catalyst positioning: big flow in weekly contracts ahead of an event is a bet on the move; compare call-heavy vs put-heavy lean against the GEX wall.

Confirming a scanner hit: when the scanner surfaces a squeeze setup, flow that agrees (calls loading at one strike) is a stronger signal than flow that is silent.

OPEN IT¶

Path: /options-flow Shortcut: none — sidebar OPTIONS group Tier-gate: Pro — Free sees the upgrade gate, not the feed.

HOW TO USE IT¶

Click Options Flow in the sidebar.
At the top, the Tape rollup shows one card per stock with the net premium flagged over the last 24 hours, a bar splitting call premium from put premium, the top strike, and the positioning lean.
The table below lists each flagged contract: symbol, type, lean, strike, expiration, last price, volume, open interest, V/OI, IV, days to expiration, and how long ago it was flagged.
Click CHAIN on a card to open that stock's options chain, or GEX to open its gamma exposure.
Click ALL, CALL, or PUT to show one side. Use the sort menu: Top score, Top volume, or Most recent. Type a ticker in Filter symbol to narrow the table. The rollup cards do not change with the filters.
Click the refresh button at the top right for the newest data.

ALERTS¶

Open Settings and go to Notifications. Find Options flow, described as unusual options activity. Choose in-app, push, or email. In-app and push are on by default.

WHERE EVERYTHING IS¶

Rollup cards (TAPE ROLLUP · 24H NET FLAGGED PREMIUM) — per-ticker aggregate of the whole flagged set. Net premium, call$/put$ bar, lean chip, top strike, CHAIN + GEX links.

Toolbar — CALL / PUT / ALL direction filter, the sort dropdown (Top score, Top volume, Most recent), the symbol filter box, and the live contract count on the right.

Refresh button — the ⟳ icon re-pulls the feed on demand. The DELAYED badge next to it reflects that the feed is a periodic snapshot, not a live tape.

The tape — one row per flagged contract, SYMBOL TYPE BIAS STRIKE EXP LAST VOL OI V/OI IV DTE AGO on desktop (some columns collapse on smaller viewports).

Mobile — the table becomes cards below 640px: one card per flag with the same numbers, tap to open the chain.

HOW TO READ IT¶

Left to right: the underlying SYMBOL, call or put TYPE, the BIAS lean chip, the STRIKE and EXP (expiration date) of the contract, the LAST price, session VOL, standing OI (open interest), the V/OI ratio, IV (implied volatility), DTE (days to expiration), and AGO — how long ago the flag fired.

The lean chip reads BULLISH, BEARISH, or HEDGE. It is worked out from where the strike sits against the stock price. It is a hint about positioning. The board shows a snapshot of the chain, not individual trades, so it cannot tell you who bought or sold.

The V/OI ratio carries the signal. A 1.0 print is average churn — people trading contracts that already existed. A 5.0+ on a short-dated contract is someone loading up. Watch for clusters of the same root across multiple strikes of the same hour — that's a position being built across strikes, not a retail potshot.

What it is not: flow is a clue, not a signal to trade. Big volume can be a hedge or a spread as easily as a bet. The board does not distinguish sweeps from blocks, and it does not tell you buy-vs-sell side.

Hours: the cards fill in during the regular session, 9:30 to 4:00 Eastern. Outside those hours the board shows the last 24 hours.

FIELDS¶

Column	What it is
SYMBOL	Underlying ticker
TYPE	`CALL` or `PUT`
BIAS	Positioning-lean chip (`BULLISH`, `BEARISH`, or `HEDGE`)
STRIKE	Contract strike price
EXP	Expiration date
LAST	Last traded premium
VOL	Today's volume on this contract
OI	Open interest as of prior close
V/OI	Volume divided by open interest — the unusual ratio
IV	Implied volatility
DTE	Days to expiration
AGO	Time since detection

LIMITS¶

Detection threshold: volume >= 2.5 × open interest AND volume >= 500 contracts — contracts below any threshold are invisible here
Very cheap contracts are skipped
Only the 5 highest-scoring rows per underlying are kept
24-hour rolling window — yesterday's flag drops off
Detector cadence: every 15 minutes during market hours, half the list per pass
Source: 55 fixed liquid underlyings (index/sector ETFs, mega-caps, high-volume single names) only; full chain not covered
Score = volume × ratio × last price; the default sort surfaces big, concentrated, expensive positioning over raw volume
The board shows a snapshot of the chain, not individual trades — buy vs. sell side is not available
The DELAYED badge on the refresh button reflects that the feed is a periodic snapshot, not a live tape

TROUBLESHOOTING¶

Upgrade card shows instead of the board. Options flow needs Pro. See Pricing.

A stock is missing. Only the 55 tracked names are scanned. Use the Scanner to find others.

The board is empty. Nothing met the thresholds in the last 24 hours, or you have a symbol filter on. Clear the filter.

The rollup says it is unavailable. The table below still updates. Try again in a minute.

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