How Our Unusual Options Activity Scanner Works
The scanner flags U.S. listed options trades where the contract's same-day volume is at least 2x its open interest and the total premium is at least $750,000, then tags each as bullish or bearish based on whether calls or puts were bought at or above the ask.
What gets flagged
- Volume/open-interest ratio of 2x or more. Volume is measured during the session; open interest is the figure published that morning.
- Total premium of $750K or more (price × 100 × contracts), to focus on institutional-size orders.
- Aggressive buying. Trades filled at or above the ask.
How sentiment is assigned
- Bullish: calls bought at or above the ask.
- Bearish: puts bought at or above the ask.
Sentiment describes the trade, not the trader's intent. Put buying is frequently a hedge.
Timing
Trades are added during regular U.S. market hours (9:30 AM–4:00 PM Eastern). Times on the site are the time each trade was added to our feed, shown in Eastern Time. Pages are cached for up to a few minutes; use Refresh on the live scanner for the latest.
Known limitations
- We can't see whether a trade opened or closed a position until next-day open interest is published.
- Individual legs of multi-leg orders (spreads, rolls) may be flagged on their own.
- Sold-to-open premium (for example, covered calls or cash-secured puts) is not tagged as directional.
- Ticker pages summarize our most recent flagged trades, not every option that traded.
Who runs this site
The Free Unusual Options Activity Scanner is built and operated by IVtrades, which publishes options trading signals and analytics. IVtrades also sells C Analytics, a paid tool that adds historical win-rate data to unusual options alerts. The free scanner's data and filters are the same whether or not you use C Analytics.
Disclaimer
Everything on this site is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Options involve substantial risk and are not suitable for all investors.