0DTE options flow
Option flow · Market pulse- What it is
- Zero-days-to-expiry options are contracts that expire at the close of the same session. The block sums the premium bought on calls and on puts for each index product, and nets the two — positive means more was spent on calls.
- How to use it
- It is a read on how the day's fastest money is leaning. Net call premium on SPY and QQQ together is a bullish lean for the session; a large net put figure on one product and not the others is usually a hedge, not a view.
- What it cannot tell you
- Premium bought is not premium held — 0DTE positions are opened and closed inside the hour. It cannot tell a bet from a hedge, and it says nothing about single stocks.
A dash (—)
Everywhere- What it is
- Wherever a value was not computed — a feed was down, a basis was not measured, a report carried no outlook — the site prints a dash.
- How to use it
- A dash is information: it tells you the read is thinner here. It is not an error.
- What it cannot tell you
- It cannot tell you why the value is missing. The data-health line at the foot of a plan sometimes can.
Above / Below
Dashboard · Market update- What it is
- Two short lines: what the desk expects if the index trades ABOVE a named level, and what it expects BELOW it. The level is the one that flips the read.
- How to use it
- Watch that level. When price is on the other side of it, the stance line above no longer applies as written.
- What it cannot tell you
- A level is where the read changes, not where price will stop. It can be crossed and re-crossed several times in a session.
At-ask share
Dark pool · verdict and every name row- What it is
- Each dark-pool or block print is classified against the quoted market at the moment it printed: at the ask (the buyer paid the offer), at the bid (the seller took the bid), or neither. The share sums the dollars on each side over the session.
- How to use it
- Above roughly 55% buyers were lifting offers; below 45% sellers were hitting bids; between the two the tape was two-sided and there is no lean to read. Read it beside the option flow's direction before calling either a view.
- What it cannot tell you
- A large holder rebalancing prints on both sides all day, and a single closing-cross block can swing the number. It is a lean, never a verdict, and it says nothing about intent.
ATR
Dashboard · Trade plans · Technicals- What it is
- The average of the last 14 days' daily ranges (high to low, including gaps).
- How to use it
- A stop closer than about half an ATR is inside normal noise and will be hit by chance. Targets more than 2–3 ATR away are ambitious for one day.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is an average. On a catalyst day the real range is often two or three times the ATR.
Barometer reading
Barometer- What it is
- Each indicator is scored against where it stood before the crashes of 1929, 2000, 2008 and 2020, then weighted and combined. Under 33 is benign, 33–60 elevated, above 60 pre-crash territory.
- How to use it
- Use it for sizing and for how much cash to hold — pressure for the month, not a signal for the day.
- What it cannot tell you
- Several of the inputs lag by months and one (the drawdown) can only confirm what already happened. A high reading can persist for a year before anything breaks.
Behaviour read
Earnings- What it is
- An AI read across all of a name's past reports: what it usually does on the day, the day after, and over the next week; how often it closes higher; the typical size of the move.
- How to use it
- Use the base rates to size expectations: a name that has reversed its opening gap in 7 of 10 reports deserves patience on day 1.
- What it cannot tell you
- A pattern in ten reports is a tendency, not a law. The sample fit note says whether today's gap even resembles the past ones.
Benign / Elevated / Pre-crash
Barometer- What it is
- Green means the indicator is inside its normal range; orange means it is at levels that preceded past crises; red means it is at or beyond them.
- How to use it
- Count the reds. Three red indicators out of nineteen is a very different picture from ten.
- What it cannot tell you
- Bands are set on history. An indicator can be red for a long time without a crash — and 2020's crash came with several of them green.
Block trade
Dark pool · Largest single prints- What it is
- The feed separates blocks from dark-pool prints by venue and reporting route. Both are size dealt away from the open order book; blocks are the larger, more often negotiated, half.
- How to use it
- A block at one price is the clearest level the tape offers. Several blocks in a name across a session is a holder building or unwinding.
- What it cannot tell you
- A block does not say whether it opened or closed a position, and many blocks are the two legs of a swap or a basket, not a view on the name.
Bullish share
Option flow- What it is
- Bullish premium divided by total premium across the whole watchlist, as a percentage.
- How to use it
- It is the board's mood in one number. Above 60% is a decidedly bullish tape; below 40%, decidedly bearish.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is dollar-weighted, so one enormous trade in one name can swing it. Read it beside the count of names on each side.
Catalyst
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- The story behind a gap: what happened, when, and whether it was a beat, a miss, a downgrade, a contract, a secondary offering, a sympathy move…
- How to use it
- Two stocks up 9% are not the same trade if one raised its outlook and the other announced a share sale. Read the catalyst before the percentage.
- What it cannot tell you
- The catalyst is found by the desk's AI from the news it can reach. A move it cannot explain is graded low rather than guessed at.
Closing cross
Dark pool · When it traded- What it is
- At the close, exchanges match the accumulated market-on-close and limit-on-close orders in one auction. Those fills report as large block prints stamped 16:00, and on a normal day they carry more dollars than the other ten hours together.
- How to use it
- Treat the 16:00 bar as its own thing. It is index and fund rebalancing at the closing price, not a holder choosing a level; the other hours are where positioning shows.
- What it cannot tell you
- The cross is scaled on its own bar so the rest of the day stays readable; comparing its dollars to a single regular hour is not a meaningful read.
Confidence
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- Arithmetic over the plan's own fields, 20 points per part, minus penalties for feeds that failed and a cap when the trade goes against every directional read. Bands: 70+ high, 50–69 medium, under 50 low.
- How to use it
- Open the breakdown. A 62 that is weak on 'levels' is a different trade from a 62 that is weak on 'direction' — you can disagree with one part and keep the rest.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is not a probability of winning. It is a consistency check on the plan's evidence, and it is deliberately NOT an AI opinion — the AI's own second look lives in the plan text.
Congress trades
Political catalysts- What it is
- Every disclosed transaction, counted by ticker: how many buys, how many sells, and by whom.
- How to use it
- Read it beside a political call. A name being talked up in Washington while members are net sellers is a different picture from one they are buying.
- What it cannot tell you
- Disclosures arrive up to 45 days after the trade and give a range, not a size. It is a pattern signal, not a live one.
Conviction
Political catalysts- What it is
- The desk's own score for the link between a statement and a name. Most reads land under 30 — politics touches sectors more often than single companies.
- How to use it
- Above 30 is worth a look; the call (long / short / watch) beside it says which way.
- What it cannot tell you
- It measures relevance, not likelihood. A statement can be highly relevant and never become policy.
Dark-pool level
Dark pool · names and watchlist tables- What it is
- Every print in a name is grouped with the others within a quarter of a percent of its price, and the groups are ranked by dollars. The top three are the levels; the first is where the most size was willing to trade.
- How to use it
- Mark the top level on the chart. It is a price a large holder accepted, and it often holds afterwards — as support when price comes back down to it, as resistance when price comes up. A level with several prints behind it is firmer than one big print.
- What it cannot tell you
- Whether it holds as support or resistance is not knowable from the print. A level from the closing cross is an auction price, not a negotiated one.
Dark-pool prints
Dark pool · Largest single prints- What it is
- A dark pool is a private venue where institutions trade large blocks without showing an order to the open market. The trades are still reported, with a delay, and the block lists the session's biggest by dollar value, with the name, the price and the time.
- How to use it
- A very large print at one price is a level where a big holder was willing to deal — it often acts as support or resistance afterwards. Several prints in one name on one day is accumulation or distribution worth noting beside its option flow.
- What it cannot tell you
- A print does not say who bought and who sold, or whether it opened or closed a position. Read it as a level and a size, never as a direction.
Data health
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A line at the foot of each plan listing every source it tried — levels, flow, dealer positioning, whale reads — and whether each was fresh, stale, or down.
- How to use it
- A plan built with a feed down is a thinner read. The confidence score already docks it; this line tells you which part to distrust.
- What it cannot tell you
- A feed being up does not make its number right; it only means the plan was not written blind.
Day 1 / Day 2
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- The movers board has two tabs. Day 1 is the fresh catalyst. Day 2 shows the same names a session later, so you can see whether the move held.
- How to use it
- Day 2 is where many gap trades actually set up: a name that gapped up and held its Day 1 range is a different animal from one that gave it all back.
- What it cannot tell you
- Day 2 rows are written before the second session opens, from the first session's close. They do not update intraday.
Early close
Expirations · amber days- What it is
- The exchange shortens the session to 13:00 ET (options to 13:15). Everything that normally happens in the last hour happens at noon.
- How to use it
- A 0DTE contract loses its whole day of time value by lunch. The final-hour flows land at 12:00, and liquidity thins earlier than it looks.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is not a holiday: the market is open, prints are real, and a stop still fires. Only the clock changed.
Economic prints
Dashboard · Economic calendar- What it is
- The high-impact releases of the session (payrolls, CPI, ISM…) with the actual number, the forecast, and a one-line read of what the result meant for the index.
- How to use it
- A number that beats or misses the forecast is only half the story — the read says which way the index took it. A hot inflation print is 'above forecast' and bearish at the same time.
- What it cannot tell you
- The read is written minutes after the print. How the market digests it over the day can differ from the first reaction.
Entry
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- The planned price of the trade. Often 'the level' itself — the trigger and the entry are the same price.
- How to use it
- If price has run well past the entry by the time you see it, the risk/reward has changed. Recalculate or skip.
- What it cannot tell you
- An entry is a plan price, not a fill. Real fills are worse than plans by the spread and the slippage.
ES roll
Expirations · grey dot, four times a year- What it is
- Index futures expire quarterly. About eight days before expiry the market's volume, and the desk's own orders and data, move to the next contract. The old one keeps trading thinly until it expires.
- How to use it
- Levels, charts and a basis measured on the old contract are on the wrong instrument from this day. Redraw on the new month.
- What it cannot tell you
- The roll is a convention, not a rule — some volume moves earlier and some later. The date is when this desk moves.
Expiration (opex)
Expirations · every month- What it is
- Every listed option has a last day. The standard monthly contracts share one: the third Friday of the month. Index options that settle in the morning are priced off the open's settlement value; equity options trade until the close. When the Friday is an exchange holiday, the OCC moves expiration to the trading day before it.
- How to use it
- Into expiration the strikes with the most open interest act as magnets and then let go. Positions held through it are assigned, expire, or must be closed — decide before the day, not on it.
- What it cannot tell you
- Weekly and daily contracts expire on other days; this calendar marks only the standard monthly and quarterly dates. It says when, not which strikes matter — the option flow and gamma pages say that.
Fair value
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- A price estimate written into the catalyst read, using the new numbers and the company's history.
- How to use it
- Compare it with the last price: a stock well below a credible fair value after a beat may have room; one above it after a miss may not have finished falling.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is a quick read, not a valuation model. Treat it as a direction, never as a target.
Grade
Dashboard · Graded movers, Trade plans- What it is
- A 1–10 score of the news behind a move: how material it is, how surprising, and whether it changes the company's earnings power. 8+ is a real catalyst; 4 and below is noise or a sympathy move.
- How to use it
- Use it to decide how much attention a name deserves. A 9/10 that gapped 3% is more interesting than a 3/10 that gapped 12%.
- What it cannot tell you
- The grade scores the NEWS, not the trade. A 9/10 catalyst can still be fully priced by the open. It says nothing about levels, timing or risk.
Guidance
Dashboard · Graded movers, Trade plans; Earnings- What it is
- Companies report the last quarter's numbers AND an outlook for the next one. This chip grades only the outlook, against consensus. It is kept separate from the numbers on purpose.
- How to use it
- 'Beat the quarter, guided light' is the most tradeable shape there is and it disappears if the two are blended into one word. Read the guide NEXT TO the numbers.
- What it cannot tell you
- Only earnings and guidance events carry this chip. A dash means the story was not about an outlook, not that the outlook was fine.
Implied move
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- Before a report, option prices imply an expected size of move (either direction). 'Actual' is what the stock then did.
- How to use it
- An actual move much bigger than the implied one means the market was surprised — those moves tend to carry further. Much smaller means the report was a non-event.
- What it cannot tell you
- The implied move is a size, not a direction, and it is only shown for names that reported.
Index strength
Option flow · Market pulse- What it is
- The feed's own strength reading for each index product, scaled 0–100: near 100 the index is pressing the top of its recent range on rising participation, near 0 the bottom. It is NOT the day's percentage change — a +0.8% day has read anywhere from 47 to 98.
- How to use it
- Compare the three. IWM strong while SPY is middling is a broadening tape; SPY strong on its own is a few large caps carrying it. The leader chip beside it says which one is setting the pace.
- What it cannot tell you
- It describes the open, from one vendor's formula. It is not a forecast and it is not comparable with the percentages elsewhere on the page.
Key levels
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A short list of prices with how strong each is (1–10), which timeframe it comes from (D/W/M/Q) and how many days have traded into it.
- How to use it
- A plan is anchored on one of these. Weekly and monthly levels with high touch counts are the ones worth respecting; a daily level is a suggestion.
- What it cannot tell you
- Levels come from price history. A fresh catalyst can make the history irrelevant — that is what the grade and the setup checks are for.
Largest single orders
Option flow- What it is
- Each row is one order: the contract (strike and expiry), the premium paid, the stock price at the time, and the size against the contract's open interest.
- How to use it
- An order much larger than the existing open interest is a new position, not a roll. A near-dated, far-out-of-the-money strike is a bet on a fast move.
- What it cannot tell you
- You see the trade, not the trader. Whether it opens or closes a position is inferred, not known.
Net premium
Option flow- What it is
- Every option trade the feed sees is signed toward the bullish or bearish direction (buying calls or selling puts is bullish; buying puts or selling calls is bearish) and the dollars are summed.
- How to use it
- A large positive number means real money positioned for upside today. Compare it with the week: money that agrees with the trailing week is conviction; money that fights it is either a reversal or a hedge.
- What it cannot tell you
- It cannot tell a bet from a hedge. A fund buying puts against a stock it owns shows as bearish premium. Size is meaningful; intent is inferred.
No-trade zone
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- Two prices. While the stock is between them, neither scenario is live.
- How to use it
- It is the plan telling you to wait. Trades taken inside the band are guesses.
- What it cannot tell you
- Price can sit in the band all day. A no-trade zone is a valid outcome, not a failure of the plan.
Pre / Post
Earnings calendar- What it is
- The reporting slot. Pre-market reporters gap at the open; after-close reporters gap the NEXT morning.
- How to use it
- A Post reporter's move is tradeable tomorrow, not today. A Pre reporter's is live at 9:30.
- What it cannot tell you
- Unconfirmed dates (marked ?) are estimates from the data source and can move by days.
Quarter-end
Expirations · four times a year- What it is
- End-of-quarter options on the index expire on the quarter's last session, and funds that rebalance to a quarter-end weight do so into that close.
- How to use it
- The last half hour carries flow that has nothing to do with the day's news. Read a late move on a quarter-end with that in mind.
- What it cannot tell you
- Rebalancing is not visible in advance and its direction is not knowable from the calendar. The date says the flow exists, not which way it leans.
Quarterly expiration
Expirations · the violet-ringed days- What it is
- Four times a year the quarterly futures contracts expire on the same day as the monthly options. Index products settle on the open's settlement value; equity options at the close. Volume and the size of the dealer rebalance are the largest of the quarter.
- How to use it
- Expect an outsized open, a busy last hour and prices that pin and release around the big strikes. Levels drawn on the expiring futures contract stop meaning anything the week before, when volume rolls.
- What it cannot tell you
- Heavy is not directional. The day says nothing about which way the tape goes, only that the flows moving it are mechanical and large.
R:R
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- (Target − Entry) ÷ (Entry − Stop). It is the geometry of the trade, independent of position size.
- How to use it
- Below about 1.5:1 you need to be right very often to come out ahead. Above 3:1 you can be wrong most of the time and still profit.
- What it cannot tell you
- A huge R:R usually means a stop inside the day's normal noise — it flatters the ratio by measuring the risk too small. The confidence score docks points for exactly that.
Regime
Dashboard · Market update- What it is
- A label for how the index is likely to behave, derived from how option dealers are positioned: whether their hedging damps moves (range-bound) or accelerates them (trending, squeezy).
- How to use it
- In a damping regime, fades at the edges of a range tend to work; in an accelerating one, breakouts do. Match the type of trade to the regime.
- What it cannot tell you
- Dealer positioning is a snapshot and it changes through the day as options trade. The label describes the open, not the whole session.
RSI 14
Dashboard · Trade plans · Technicals- What it is
- A momentum gauge from the last 14 days of gains against losses.
- How to use it
- A stretched reading argues for smaller size on trades in the direction of the stretch, not against taking them.
- What it cannot tell you
- Strong trends stay 'overbought' for weeks. RSI alone is not a reason to fade.
RVOL
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- The stock's volume so far, divided by what it typically does by this point in the day.
- How to use it
- A big move on low volume is fragile; on high volume it has participation behind it. Above ~2x is meaningful.
- What it cannot tell you
- Early in the session the base is small and the ratio swings. It measures interest, not direction.
Scenario
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A single trade idea: a side (long or short), the condition that triggers it, and the prices that define it.
- How to use it
- Most plans are only ever traded through one scenario. Pick the one whose trigger actually happens; ignore the other.
- What it cannot tell you
- Two scenarios on one name are not a contradiction — they are 'here is what to do in either case.'
Sector breadth
Option flow · Market pulse- What it is
- For each S&P sector: how many of its names are up on the session as a percentage, and the cap-weighted move beside it. The best and worst name in the sector are listed for the signed-in reader.
- How to use it
- Read the two together. A sector up 1% with 85% of names rising is being bought; up 1% with 35% rising is one giant masking a sell-off. Broad moves persist more often than narrow ones.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is a count at one moment before the open, and a sector's names are not equally sized. It says how wide the move is, not how far it goes.
Sector rotation
Option flow · Market pulse- What it is
- The percentage move of each sector ETF (XLK technology, XLE energy, XLF financials, and so on) over one session, five sessions and twenty sessions, side by side.
- How to use it
- Look for the disagreements. A sector down over 20 sessions and up over 5 is money coming back; up over 20 and down over 5 is money leaving. A single-name plan in a sector being left needs a stronger catalyst.
- What it cannot tell you
- An ETF is the sector's largest names, weighted by size. It tells you where the flows went, not why, and a 20-session move is already history.
Sentiment
Dashboard · Graded movers- What it is
- The direction the catalyst implies for the stock, judged from the news alone — before looking at how the stock actually reacted.
- How to use it
- When sentiment and the move disagree (bullish news, stock down) that gap IS the story. Look for why.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is a read of the news, not a prediction. Bullish news that is already priced in produces no move at all.
Setup grade
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A letter from four checks: a strong catalyst, price at a key level, the market aligned with the direction, and a prior-week break. More checks passed, higher letter.
- How to use it
- A = full size, B = reduced, C = small or skip. The grade answers 'how big', not 'whether'.
- What it cannot tell you
- It says nothing about whether the SCENARIO is good — that is what the confidence score is for. A grade-A ticker can carry a weak scenario.
SMA 20 / 50 / 200
Dashboard · Trade plans · Technicals- What it is
- Three averages that many traders and funds use as reference lines. Price above all three is an uptrend; below all three, a downtrend.
- How to use it
- They act as soft support or resistance because so many people watch them. A plan that trades toward one should expect a pause there.
- What it cannot tell you
- A moving average lags price by construction. It confirms a trend; it never predicts a turn.
Stance
Dashboard · Market update- What it is
- The one-word read the desk publishes after it builds the session — bullish, bearish or neutral — with the sentence of reasoning that produced it.
- How to use it
- It sets the backdrop for everything below it. A long idea on a bearish day needs a stronger reason than a long idea on a bullish one.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is a read on the INDEX, not on any single stock, and it was written before the open. A big print or a headline at 10am can make it stale.
Stop
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- The exit price if the trade goes against you. Placed beyond the level that would invalidate the setup.
- How to use it
- Size the position from the distance between entry and stop, so that a stop-out costs an amount you decided in advance.
- What it cannot tell you
- A stop limits a loss; it does not eliminate one. Gaps and fast markets can fill you worse than the stop price.
Surprise %
Earnings- What it is
- (Actual EPS − consensus EPS) ÷ |consensus|, as a percentage, per report.
- How to use it
- Read it with the guidance chip and the realised move. A beat that sold off tells you the beat was expected — or the guide was the problem.
- What it cannot tell you
- The surprise is on the headline number only. Revenue, margins and the outlook move stocks at least as much.
Target 1 / Target 2
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- Two prices on the profitable side. Many traders close part of the position at T1 and let the rest run to T2 with the stop moved up.
- How to use it
- T1 is usually set just in front of the next obstacle — a wall of option positioning or a key level — so it is the more reliable of the two.
- What it cannot tell you
- Targets are where the plan EXPECTS resistance, not where price must stop. A move can fail before T1 or run through T2.
The week
Option flow- What it is
- Net premium summed across the last week for each name, with a mark showing whether today confirms it or goes the other way.
- How to use it
- Today with the week is persistence. Today against the week is the interesting row — something changed.
- What it cannot tell you
- A week is short. It shows recent positioning, not a long-term view.
Trade plan
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A plan the desk's AI writes only for names whose catalyst graded high enough. Each has one or more scenarios (long, short, or both) with concrete prices.
- How to use it
- Read the scenario as a sentence: 'If it does X, enter at Y, stop at Z, take profit at T1 and T2.' If X does not happen, there is no trade.
- What it cannot tell you
- A plan is written before the open from pre-market prices. It is a framework, not an instruction. Nothing on this site is investment advice.
Trigger
Dashboard · Trade plans- What it is
- A specific event, like '5-minute close above the level' or 'reclaim of the pre-market high'. Until it happens the plan is only a plan.
- How to use it
- Wait for it. Entering because you expect the trigger is a different, worse trade than the one written.
- What it cannot tell you
- A trigger can fire and fail. That is what the stop is for.
Updated / captured
Everywhere- What it is
- Each board carries the time it was built or refreshed. A board older than its normal cadence says so in a yellow strip.
- How to use it
- Read the stamp before the number. A flow board from 2pm is the session's record, not the current tape.
- What it cannot tell you
- Fresh is not the same as right. The stamp tells you WHEN, never how good.
VIX settlement
Expirations · monthly- What it is
- VIX derivatives settle on a special opening quotation of SPX options, on the Wednesday thirty days before the following month's standard expiration. When that Friday is a holiday the anchor moves with it, so the settlement can fall on a Tuesday.
- How to use it
- Volatility positions are rolled or closed in the days before, and the settlement print itself is set by the SPX option open. A VIX that does not match the tape on a settlement morning is usually the settlement, not the tape.
- What it cannot tell you
- It marks the VIX's own products, not index options. It is a morning event; by the cash open it is done.
Weekly seasonality
Dashboard · above the market update- What it is
- For each trading day of the week, the share of the last 30 years in which the index closed above the prior close on that same date, the average and median move, and the count behind it. A date falls on a weekend two years in seven, so 30 years is only about 21 observations.
- How to use it
- Each day shows whichever side happened more often — '75% closed down' rather than '25% closed up' — so the big number is always what the date usually did. Compare it with the base rate, the white tick: the index closes up on roughly 54% of ALL days (and so down on about 46%), which makes 57% closed up an ordinary day, not a green one. Only a day marked 'leans up' or 'leans down' differs from that base rate by more than chance would explain. Use it as a tailwind or headwind to a read you already have.
- What it cannot tell you
- It is a count of about twenty past years and says nothing about this one: a single headline outweighs it. With five days tested every week, a lean will show up by luck now and then. It is context, never a signal on its own.
Whale positioning
Option flow · Where the whales sit- What it is
- A read of the biggest open option positions per stock: the net dollars, and the strikes above and below the current price carrying the most of it.
- How to use it
- Those strikes act like magnets and walls. A plan's target is often set just in front of one. Whether today's flow agrees with the whales is shown beside it.
- What it cannot tell you
- Each reading carries its own date — some are days old — and a large holder's intent is unknown. It is context for levels, not a signal on its own.
