Skip to main content

Official template · basic · Flow scanner

Find contracts trading heavily against standing OI.

Answer "what unusual options activity printed today" without tuning a screener first.

Open this recipe Eligible trial or subscription required
Unusual Options Activity Today · 21-second walkthroughMarket session Sep 25, 2026

The report UI is recreated from the test app's Sep 25, 2026 session, not a live screen. A historical example with music; no narration.

Unusual Options Activity Today · real test-app reportMarket session Sep 22, 2026Swipe to inspect →
Real Unusual Options Activity Today report in the TradingFlow test app, showing Highest volume against open interest for the September 22, 2026 market session.

Captured Sep 23, 2026 on testapp.tradingflow.com. This is a historical example; results on this page do not refresh. Swipe across the image to inspect its columns.

Unusual Options Activity Today · how the report is assembledConceptual map
  1. 01Contract volume + OI
  2. 02Compare session to book
  3. 03Unusual contracts

Volume over OI does not establish opening activity.

Read the output

  1. 01Volume-to-open-interest ratio per contract, above sensible liquidity floors.
  2. 02The standing open interest the ratio is measured against.
  3. 03Strike, expiry and days to expiry for each contract.

Keep in mind

A high ratio is not proof of opening activity — volume counts closes and the far leg of spreads too.

Explore the concept behind this report
Visual explainer
Division diagram of volume over open interest equaling a Vol/OI multiple.Vol/OI = today's volume ÷ open interestVolume12,000÷Open interest4,000Vol/OI = 3.0×High ratio = today’s activity is large vs the standing book

Vol/OI is today’s volume divided by standing open interest, a freshness ratio for screening unusual activity.

How to read it

From report to evidence

  1. 01

    Read the ratio, then the base

    A 50× ratio on 120 open interest is a much smaller event than 5× on 40,000.

  2. 02

    Check the expiry

    Near-dated ratios turn over fast. A multi-week contract building volume is a different story.

  3. 03

    Confirm with the tape

    Pre-Move Positioning traces whether the open interest actually persisted across sessions.

Method and limitations

A one-screen Cookbook tool: today’s contracts where volume exceeded standing open interest, ranked by the ratio. Official app template: Unusual Options Activity Today.

What the report computes

  • Volume-to-open-interest ratio per contract, above sensible liquidity floors.
  • The standing open interest the ratio is measured against.
  • Strike, expiry and days to expiry for each contract.

What it does not claim

  • A high ratio is not proof of opening activity — volume counts closes and the far leg of spreads too.
  • Open interest only updates next session, so the denominator is yesterday’s.
  • 0DTE is excluded: on expiry day the denominator no longer means anything.

Shows the standing open interest next to the ratio, so a large multiple on a nearly empty contract reads as the small event it is.

Frequently asked questions

Why is 0DTE excluded?
On expiry day the standing open interest is the previous session’s, so the ratio measures churn against a base that no longer exists. A 0DTE contract tops that screen by construction.
Does unusual activity mean someone knows something?
No. The ratio is descriptive. Volume includes closing trades and the other leg of someone’s spread, and nothing in the tape identifies the trader or the motive.

Related recipes

More learning resources

Related glossary

Related personas

The public page explains the report. Run the official template in TradingFlow for a selected completed market session.

Open Unusual activity today
← All recipes