Author: ivtrades

This is also known as the offer. The asking price is the current market price at which an investor can buy the option in the market. 

This is an options contract, put or call, that can be exercised at any time prior to expiration. Stock, exchange-traded funds, and some index options also settle American-style. The alternative is the European Style Option which can only be exercised at expiration.

Tracking Options Flow can be very useful if you know how to take advantage of it. It basically allows you to see what the big traders are doing in real time.  The common thinking is that  these big traders know something that others don’t and are taking a position in anticipation of a move. However,…

Options sweeps that go off near the ask are usually signs of aggression and a possibility of a higher probability trade. This is due to the fact that a trade that goes off at the ask means that the trader thought it was more important to get into the trade, by hitting the ask, than…

A block trade is, as the name suggests, a single large order that hits the Unusual Options Activity Tape all at once.  A Sweep is a large order that is broken up and hits the tape in many different small orders.  Here is an example of Block Trade:  And here is an example of a…

The cost of Unusual Options Activity data varies depending on the quality and quantity of the data that you want.  If you want raw data from the exchanges like CBOE then you could easily be looking at a few thousand per month plus other costs. This is usually what institutions and data professionals use.  If…

Order Flow is basically the study of the way a stock reacts to the limit or market orders that are placed at certain price levels.  When it comes to Unusual Options Activity, the order flow principles are the same, in that you want to pay attention to how the Option price, and the price of…

DTE means Days To Expiration. This is basically the number of days left until your Option contracts expire.  As an options trader you will want to play very close attention to the DTE when you are selecting which contract to buy or sell. The number of days to expiration can impact the profitability of a…