Glossary
DTE
Days to Expiration — low DTE signals urgency; high DTE signals a longer-horizon thesis.
What it is
DTE is the number of calendar days until an options contract expires.
- 0–7 DTE: short-term, event-driven. Time decay is brutal — someone buying here expects a move very soon.
- 30–60 DTE: swing trade positioning. Enough time for a thesis to play out without extreme theta decay.
- 90+ DTE (LEAPS): long-term conviction. Buying time to be right on the direction.
Why it matters for flow reading
Low DTE prints in the Unusual Activity feed are urgency signals — the buyer expects the underlying to move within days. High DTE prints are thesis-building: an institution willing to wait months for a setup, which usually means they have high conviction in the direction and are not in a hurry.
In the score
DTE contributes up to 15 points to the Unusual Activity score. The 30–90 DTE window (thesis) and 0DTE (urgency) score highest. Very long DTE (180+) scores lower because the time frame is wide enough to cover almost any thesis.
Where you will see it
- Unusual ActivityProprietary scoring on volume-to-OI, premium size, and bid-ask execution flags the trades that matter: 85+ is significant, 95+ is institutional-grade.
- Live FlowThe raw tape as it prints. Filter by premium, score, DTE, and trade type to watch flow build on a single name in real time.
- Earnings FlowPre-earnings institutional positioning and post-earnings follow-through, so you see how the smart money is playing the print.