One of the most important products in the financial markets over the past few years has been the extraordinary options activity data. The reason for this data spread is simple: retailers want to know what the big money is doing! By understanding where hedge funds, banks, and other big institutions/players are located, we can make more educated trading decisions.
There are so many products out there, and it can be hard to distinguish which platform might be best for you, so with that in mind, we thought it would be a good idea to dig into a handful of the most popular platforms to see how they stack up against each other. Details after the jump!
Best Extraordinary Options Activity Data Providers
1. TrendSpider
TrendSpider strives to provide an “all in one” charting and data solution for the retail trader. Although they do not focus specifically on unusual options data, it is made available to all users via an easy-to-use Unusual Options sidebar widget that provides easy-to-use sliders for filtering and an expandable bitmap graph for a comprehensive view of unusual options system flow.
Highlights:
- Extraordinary options data in real time up to 200 orders
- Blocks deals and sweep deals > 20 thousand in premium
- Filter the slider by Strike, Expiry, and Premium
- Historical data with a one-year retrospective
- Trade time and date
- Contract details (type, strike, expiration date)
- open interest values%
- point graph visualizer
Additional product features:
- Dynamic and multi-factor alert
- Automated order execution trading robots
- One-click automatic analysis tools for TA
- Raindrop charts are only available on TrendSpider
cost:
2. Cheddar flush
cheddar flow It is an extraordinary order flow scanner that is very easy to use. With its various filtering capabilities, the platform makes it easy to find interesting option orders. It is also able to highlight options scans and pooled deals, which are commonly used by institutions and large investment firms.
Highlights:
- Unusual options data in real time
- Repeat call activity to track back-to-back requests
- Unusual and ‘extremely unusual’ options command flow
- > $1 million to track institutional buys and sells
- Real time alarm
- Dark Pool prints
- Historical data with 1 year backlog
- Recognize the “most active flow”
- Highest flow of bullish / bearish orders
- Integrated trading offer
Additional product features:
- Easy to set up watchlists
- Real-time visual alert notifications
- Profit/Loss Accounts
- Historical alert analysis
- Compatible with mobile and desktop devices
cost:
- $85/month. Standard, $95/month. Pro, $891 per year prepaid
- 7-day free trial
3. Flow Algo
FlowAlgo It is an unusual options order flow scanner that allows you to monitor what institutional investors are doing in the markets. The platform offers many of the standard datasets that others in its category provide but also has an additional set of tools that give it its edge.
Highlights:
- Intermarket sweep orders
- Option block trades
- Stock Blocks and Dark Pool Prints
- Real-time audio alerts
- Alpha AI signals
- Historical data
- FlowAlgo Levels (Institutional Areas)
- Changes above OI
Additional product features:
- Trader chat room
- Compatible with mobile and desktop devices
cost:
- $149 per month, $387 per quarter, and $1,188 per year
- Trial for 2 weeks for $37
4. Unusual whales
unusual whales It is another well known name in the world of Unusual Options Data Provider. They provide much of the same data as their counterparts, focusing on detailed breakdowns of options activity found across individual names.
Highlights:
- Real time options data for all options trades
- Downloadable historical options streaming data
- Options Profit Calculator
- Dark Pool data
- Real-time alerts
Additional product features:
- Arrival of private dispute
- social sentiment tracker
- Company earnings data
- Compatible with mobile and desktop devices
- Live news feed
- Sieve stock and heat maps
cost:
- Free ‘Shamu’ plan, $27 per month / 327 years. Buffet plan, $36 per month / 395 years. ‘Super Buffet’ plan, ‘Super Buffet Tri’ plan $1,137 (3 years), ‘Super Buffet Lifetime’ plan $3,000
5. Black box stock
black box stock Offers stock and options data with real-time survey and trading alerts. They offer quite a few proprietary tools and focus on education, allowing users to access a live chat room with product experts to answer questions.
Highlights:
- Proprietary options alert log, volatility index and heat map
- Data flow options on the graph
- Dark Pool data
- color prints
- Attempt or request for recognition
- Most active stock charts
- Downloadable historical data
Additional product features:
- Live chat room with teachers
- Compatible with mobile and desktop devices
- Real-time multi-source news feed and quotes
- APIs for trading from the platform
- Social Nutrition Integration
cost:
How to Find Unusual Options Activity in TrendSpider
The TrendSpider platform is currently able to track two types of unusual option trades: sweep and block trades.
- The sweep is defined as a series of trades hitting the bar within 250 milliseconds of each other where at least 75% of the trades are in bid or ask and the total premium paid for contracts exceeds $20,000 in premium.
- A block is defined as a single trade of more than $20,000 in premium that occurred on bid or ask.
Users can choose the unfiltered view to help develop bias and then filter by expiration date, Premium, and Strike Price to improve their specific trade.
For an in-depth look at how to use the tool, as well as some examples of how price reacts when Unusual Options orders hit the bar, please watch the video below!
We hope you found this article helpful and feel free to reach out to our support team via the “Contact Us” button in the bottom right corner of the infographics if you have any questions for us! Sign up for a free 7-day trial of TrendSpider.