Learn Center
Unusual Options Activity
Spot the large, sweep, and block options trades that stand out from ordinary flow.
What is unusual options activity?
Unusual options activity is options volume that stands out from a contract's recent baseline. Traders flag it when a strike prints far more than its typical volume, when volume outruns existing open interest, or when a print is large, swept across exchanges, or negotiated as a block. The idea is simple: someone committed enough size that the tape looks different from ordinary flow. Size still does not tell you who traded or why.
A sweep usually means the order was split across venues to get filled now. A block is a large, negotiated print. Large is size without those other tags. Volume versus open interest is the other common public test: if today's volume on a contract is already bigger than the open interest that existed, a lot of that activity is likely new rather than just people closing old positions.
On EZPZ, Unusual Activity is that filtered feed. It is not the full tape. Live Flow is every matching print. Unusual Activity Intraday is the session scan with a date range. $1M Plus Flow keeps only prints that already clear a million dollars of premium. 0DTE Flow keeps only prints that expire today. SPX and SPY Flow is the index tape locked to SPX, SPXW, and SPY. Option Chain is the contract book for one ticker, not the tape.
How Unusual Activity works on EZPZ
Each row is one flagged trade: large, sweep, or block, with the contract, the size, the premium, and the tags that describe how it hit. Use this page when you want the standouts. Start here when you want to see what is loud.
How Unusual Activity differs from Live Flow
Live Flow is the unfiltered options tape. Unusual Activity is already limited to Large, Sweep, and Block. Use this page to find standouts, then open Live Flow if you want the prints around them. Open Unusual Activity Intraday if you want the same kind of rows with Start Date and End Date. Open $1M Plus Flow if you only want million-dollar premium. Open 0DTE Flow if you only want prints that expire today. Open SPX and SPY Flow if you only care about S&P 500 positioning. Open Option Chain if you want the listed strikes for one ticker.
Anatomy of a row
Read left to right: when it printed, what contract it was, then how it was classified. You do not need every column on every row. Use the tabs if you want a map of the fields.
These columns answer what printed, and when.
| Column | What you are looking at |
|---|---|
| TIME | When the trade printed. |
| TICKER | The underlying. Search this in the toolbar if you only care about one name. |
| TYPE | CALL or PUT. Calls show green. Puts show red. |
| STRIKE | The strike that traded. |
| EXPIRATION DTE | Expiration date and days left. A small DTE is a short-dated view. A large DTE is further out. |
These columns help you decide if the trade is large enough to spend time on.
| Column | What you are looking at |
|---|---|
| SIZE | How large the print is. Read it next to premium, not by itself. |
| PREMIUM | Dollar premium. This is the fastest way to rank the list. |
| PRICE | The fill price on the contract. |
| BID-ASK | The quoted spread at the print. |
| SPOT | The underlying price at the print. |
ORDER and DIRECTION describe the print. They do not tell you why the trader did it.
| Column | What you are looking at |
|---|---|
| ORDER | How the trade was classified: LARGE, SWEEP, or BLOCK. |
| DIRECTION | Bullish, bearish, or neutral label on the row. |
Pick your columns
Click Columns in the toolbar if the table feels crowded. Uncheck anything you are not using. The list matches the table headers exactly.
A simple layout many people keep:
- Leave TIME, TICKER, TYPE, STRIKE, PREMIUM, ORDER, and DIRECTION on.
- Hide BID-ASK or SPOT if you only care about size and tags at first.
- Bring EXPIRATION and DTE back when a row looks interesting.
On the toolbar you can also change how many rows you see (50 is a common setting) and the text size with A- / A+.
Filter the feed
Click Filters in the toolbar. That drawer is how you cut the feed down to a ticker, a sweep hunt, or a premium screen. Reset puts every toggle back on and clears the ranges.
Toggles
- Option type: Calls and puts, on or off independently.
- Direction: Bullish, bearish, and neutral row labels.
- Activity type: Large, Sweep, and Block. Turn Large off if you only want sweeps and blocks.
Ranges
- Search ticker: Limit the feed to one underlying. The same search also lives in the toolbar.
- Premium, strike price, volume: Min and max. Leave a field empty and there is no cap on that side (shown as infinity).
Stay live
The right side of the toolbar controls whether the list keeps moving:
- Live: newer matching trades can show up during market hours.
- Paused: the list freezes so a row does not scroll away while you read it.
- Prev / Next: page toward newer or older trades that still match your filters.
How people actually use it
Watch one name
Filter to a ticker already on your radar. Leave Live on while you work the chart. You are listening for that name, not the whole market.
Hunt sweeps and blocks
Turn Large off. Leave Sweep and Block on. Raise the premium floor if you only want the expensive ones.
Sit with one trade
Read TYPE, STRIKE, DTE, PREMIUM, ORDER, and DIRECTION. Then check the chart and nearby flow before you treat it as a bet.
Use it next to the tape
Unusual Activity is the filtered list. Live Flow is the full tape. Keep both open if a flagged trade makes you want the prints around it.