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What is Option Big Flows (DeepGamma)?
A large option flow leaves a trace before the index moves. Option Big Flows marks trades whose premium exceeds a threshold you set — one million dollars by default — with a simple visual language: shape says call or put, fill says opening or closing a position, color says buy or sell. You watch institutional tickets print alongside your futures order flow.
What DeepCharts does better
The opening-versus-closing information is what's missing everywhere else. A large call buy opening a position and a large call buy unwinding a short tell opposite stories, and most retail option feeds don't distinguish them. On SPX, DeepGamma uses Cboe participant data to settle it — and shows it on the chart you're already watching, with no second subscription.
Using it day to day
Raise the premium threshold rather than lowering it: you want the tickets that matter, not the noise. Filter expiration to your horizon, and lean on it around macro releases and opens, when the big players reposition. The marker isn't a signal: it's a prompt to go look at what the book is doing at that moment.
Example: a run of opening put buys, several million in premium, prints while ES is still holding its highs. Nothing has moved in price, but someone is paying dearly for protection. Within the hour the bid side of the book empties and the move goes. The option flow flagged the imbalance before price showed it.
⚠ The trap to avoid
The trap: following a large ticket as a directional signal. Many of these trades hedge a portfolio you can't see, or are one leg of a spread. A large put buy isn't necessarily a bearish bet: sometimes it's insurance on a long book.
Combine it with
Combine them with the GEX Profile (strikes already carrying exposure) and your footprint on ES: a large ticket landing on a strike already loaded with gamma, confirmed by aggression on the tape, is worth far more than the three read separately.
FAQ
Which instruments does Option Big Flows work on?+
SPX only, because it requires real Cboe participant data to identify the direction and nature of each trade.
How do I read the markers?+
Shape separates calls from puts, fill separates opening from closing a position, and color separates buying from selling. A filled green marker on a call therefore corresponds to an opening long position.
What premium threshold should I use?+
The default is one million dollars of premium. Raising it cuts noise and keeps only genuinely institutional tickets; lowering it buries the chart under trades that carry no weight.
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