What is options flow? A plain-English guide

Every options trade prints to the tape with a strike, expiry, size, price, and whether it hit the bid or the ask. Most of it is noise: hedging, market-making, and small retail orders. Options flow analysis is the practice of filtering that stream down to the trades that look like conviction.

The vocabulary

• Premium — the total dollars spent on the trade (contracts × price × 100). A $2.4M call buy is a different statement than a $2,400 one.
• Sweep — an order split across multiple exchanges to fill fast, usually at the ask. Speed suggests urgency.
• Block — a single large trade negotiated off-screen and printed at once. Often institutional, sometimes a hedge.
• Unusual activity — volume far above the contract's normal average (TradingGenie shows this as a multiple, e.g. 14× avg volume).
• Bullish / bearish — calls bought at the ask or puts sold lean bullish; puts bought at the ask or calls sold lean bearish. Context matters.

Why traders watch it

Options are levered and time-bound, so a large, near-dated, out-of-the-money bet is a strong signal that someone expects movement soon. When several such trades cluster in one name ahead of a catalyst, flow watchers take notice.

What it can't tell you

Flow doesn't reveal intent. A giant call buy may be a hedge against a short stock position. A put sweep may be protection on a long book, not a bearish call. Treat flow as one input alongside fundamentals, technicals, and sentiment — never as a trade signal by itself.