Unusual Options Activity
Which tickers options traders are actually hitting right now, ranked by net directional volume rather than raw size.
Every print is classified buyer-initiated or seller-initiated against the prevailing quote, then netted per symbol - so the board surfaces imbalance, not just the names that always trade a lot.
No session flow to rank yet
This board is built from the live trade tape, so outside regular trading hours there is nothing to classify. Rather than show stale overnight figures it stays empty until the session opens.
Ranking resumes 09:30 - 16:00 ET, Monday to Friday.
What can you do with flow imbalance?
Find the crowded name
Raw volume is a popularity contest SPY wins daily. Netting the tape surfaces the symbols where one side is genuinely leaning, which is where positioning is actually changing.
Separate size from conviction
Net contracts is what dealers must hedge; net premium is capital committed. High contracts with low premium is lottery-ticket flow. High on both is worth a second look.
Read it against positioning
Flow alone is not predictive. Heavy buying into strikes where dealers are short gamma has a mechanically different consequence from the same buying where they are long it.
Get this via API
This page renders one call. The same classified tape also powers per-symbol flow, block detection and cross-symbol outliers - and every route replays historically, so a flow signal can be backtested rather than only watched.
curl -H "X-Api-Key: YOUR_API_KEY" \
"https://lab.flashalpha.com/v1/flow/options/leaderboard?n=15"import requests
r = requests.get(
"https://lab.flashalpha.com/v1/flow/options/leaderboard",
params={"n": 15},
headers={"X-Api-Key": "YOUR_API_KEY"},
)
for row in r.json()["buyers"]:
print(row["symbol"], row["netVolume"])Get options flow via API
This board is free to read. The underlying classified-tape endpoints - per-symbol flow, blocks, outliers and the historical replay behind them - are Alpha tier.
See pricingHow to read this board
Raw options volume is a popularity contest that SPY wins every day. The useful signal is imbalance: when the buy and sell sides of a symbol's tape diverge sharply, someone is expressing a view with enough size to move the aggregate. That is what this board ranks.
How a print gets a side
Every trade is classified using the quote rule: the print is compared against the prevailing bid and ask at the moment it happened. A trade at or above the ask is buyer-initiated; at or below the bid, seller-initiated. Netting those per symbol over a rolling window gives the numbers above.
This is an inference, not a disclosure. The exchange does not publish who initiated a trade, and mid-market prints are genuinely ambiguous. The classification is reliable in aggregate and noisy on any single trade, which is exactly why the board ranks netted totals rather than individual prints.
The two columns, and why both
Net contracts is positioning in units, which is what dealers must hedge. Net premium is capital committed, which distinguishes a genuine institutional position from a large stack of cheap far-dated calls. A symbol high on contracts but low on premium is usually lottery-ticket flow; high on both is worth a second look.
What it does not tell you
Direction. Net buying can be a directional bet, a hedge against stock already owned, or one leg of a spread whose other leg sits elsewhere in the chain. A single-leg view of a multi-leg trade will read as conviction when it is actually risk reduction.
Flow becomes predictive only when read against positioning: heavy buying into strikes where dealers are short gamma has a mechanically different consequence from the same buying where they are long it.
The natural next step
Pick a symbol off the board and see where that flow is landing in the chain. Gamma exposure by strike shows whether it is concentrating at the call wall or the put wall, and dealer positioning gives the full GEX, DEX, VEX and CHEX picture for the same name. For same-day expiries, 0DTE Live adds pin risk and expected move.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as unusual options activity?+
Here, unusual means directional imbalance rather than raw size. Every print in the session tape is classified as buyer-initiated or seller-initiated by its position against the prevailing quote, then netted per symbol. A ticker ranks highly when buying and selling are lopsided, not simply because it trades a lot - SPY always trades a lot, which is why volume alone is not a signal.
How is net options volume calculated?+
Net volume is buyer-initiated contracts minus seller-initiated contracts over the rolling window. Each trade is side-classified using the quote rule, comparing the print against the prevailing bid and ask. Net notional applies the same netting to premium paid rather than contract count, which separates a large number of cheap contracts from genuine capital commitment.
Does heavy call buying mean the stock will go up?+
Not reliably. Net buying tells you where positioning is being added, not where price will go. The same flow can be a directional bet, a hedge against an existing stock position, or one leg of a spread whose other leg sits elsewhere in the chain. Flow is most useful read alongside dealer positioning: heavy buying into a strike where dealers are short gamma has a mechanically different consequence than the same buying where they are long gamma.
How often does the leaderboard update?+
The leaderboard is computed from the live session tape over a rolling intraday window and refreshes through the trading day. Outside regular trading hours there is no session flow to classify, so the board is legitimately empty rather than showing stale overnight figures.