3. 🌊 Flow / ðŸ”Ū Dark Pool FAQ


â„đïļ For more information on the Flow and Dark Pool please reference the Flow/Dark Pool doc.

â„đïļ Consider that any options trade placed may be part of a trade that has more than one component/leg to it. Also consider that not all BUY orders are ‘Buy to Open’ (BTO) and not all SELL orders are ‘Sell to Open’ (STO). Some BUY orders will be a ‘Buy to Close’ (BTC) and some SELL orders will be a ‘Sell to Close’ (STC) as well. Please read 4 Ways to Trade Options for more information.


What is the 🌊 Flow tool?

The flow tool tracks every options trade placed across the entire US stock exchange. The information is presented in an easily readable table that can be customized. The tool takes all of this information and presents it to you in many different ways. For example, you can gauge sentiment by the provided daily put and call skews information. Or if you prefer you can see how the flow is looking by ticker, or even by sector. Additionally, you can even view daily sentiment on specific strikes. There’s much more functionality, but it’s best to play around and explore for yourself!


How do you read the 🌊 Flow/ðŸ”Ū Dark Pool feed?
  • -All of the information provided in the Flow and Dark Pool feeds, with the exception of the emojis, is standard options verbiage.
  • -For more details on the information provided in the feed, including definitions for Flags, Sold/Transaction codes, please read 📝 the Docs.
  • -Some concepts mentioned in the emoji legend are further discussed in 📝 the Glossary/Terminology.

I see Calls being marked as bearish and Puts being marked as bullish. Why is that?

Calls are not necessarily bullish, and puts are not necessarily bearish. Alerted calls that are labeled bearish (ðŸŧ) imply that a large portion of the activity on the alerted strike was on the bid side (ðŸĶī), and alerted puts that are labeled bullish (🐂) imply that a large portion of the activity on the alerted strike was on the bid side (🛍ïļ) as well. Keep in mind that this is assuming these transactions were being opened as opposed to closed.

Call on the 🛍ïļ Ask side = 🐂 Bullish

Call on the ðŸĶī Bid side = ðŸŧ Bearish

Put on the 🛍ïļ Ask side = ðŸŧ Bearish

Put on the ðŸĶī Bid side = 🐂 Bullish

(Assuming ‘to open’)

If you are unfamiliar with these concepts please reference ‘📝 4 ways to trade options’.


How is the ‘Side’ of the trade determined for the 🌊 Flow?

We can determine that an option is on the 🛍ïļ BUY or ðŸĶī SELL side based on the price the contract(s) changed hands for at the time of the transaction. If the transaction occurred at or closer to the current bid price, we can assume that the contract(s) were sold. Conversely, if the transaction occurred at or closer to the asking price we can assume that the contract(s) were bought.


Using the Emoji Filter

To search for a specific emoji ensure that the corresponding box is checked. To eliminate an emoji from being search ensure that it’s crossed out like so. You can find a video demonstration here.