Heat Map

What it is

The Heat Map ranks every ticker by institutional urgency — giving you a real-time visual of where the heaviest, most aggressive options flow is concentrating right now.

What it shows

Each row represents a ticker with active unusual flow. The data updates throughout the trading day and is sorted by the metrics that matter most to institutional activity:

• Urgency Score — a composite score combining flow count, premium size, and aggressive fill type. The higher the score, the more institutional conviction behind the activity.
• Total Premium — the total dollar value of options premium flowing into that ticker for the trading session.
• Flow Count — the number of individual unusual activity signals detected for that ticker.
• Aggressive Count — flows filled at the ask — opening, directional pressure. Sold/closing flows are counted separately as Neutral.
• Dominant Pattern — the most common flow type detected: Golden Sweep, Block, Sweep, or Split.
• Call / Put Breakdown — the split between call and put flow for the session.

Urgency score color guide

• 🔴 Red (80–100): Extreme urgency — multiple large aggressive flows detected. Highest institutional conviction.
• 🟠 Orange (60–79): High urgency — significant positioning building. Worth watching closely.
• 🟡 Yellow (40–59): Moderate urgency — above-average activity but not yet extreme.
• 🟢 Green (<40): Low urgency — light activity relative to the ticker's baseline.

How to Sort

Use the sort toggle at the top of the table to reorder by:

• Urgency (default) — best for spotting the most aggressive institutional activity regardless of ticker size.
• Premium — best for finding the largest dollar-value flows. Large-cap names with huge sweeps will rank highest here.
• Flows — best for finding tickers with repeated unusual activity signals, which can indicate sustained institutional accumulation or distribution.

How to Use It

1. Open the Heat Map pre-market or early session to see which tickers are already attracting institutional flow before price moves.
2. Sort by Urgency — any ticker with a red score (80+) and a Golden Sweep as its dominant pattern is worth investigating immediately.
3. Click any ticker row to jump to its Live Flow page for a full breakdown of individual contracts, strike prices, and sentiment.
4. Cross-reference with the Sector Flow page — if the hottest Heat Map names all share the same sector, that is a macro rotation signal.
5. Watch for tickers that stay in the top 5 all day — sustained high urgency with repeated flows often precedes a significant directional move.