Positioning & Flow
Options Volume
Also called: contract volume
Options volume is the number of contracts traded in a session for a strike, an expiration, or an underlying as a whole. Each contract usually controls 100 shares, and volume resets to zero every trading day.
Volume shows where activity is today; open interest shows where positions have accumulated. Comparing the two is informative: volume several times greater than open interest at a strike means most of today's trades opened new positions.
Volume split by trade side (executed at the bid versus at the ask) and by call versus put drives sentiment measures such as the put/call ratio and premium-weighted flow. Relative volume, today's volume against a 20- or 30-day average, flags names where attention is spiking.
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Frequently asked questions
What is considered high options volume?
Relative to the ticker's own average. Two to three times the 30-day average, or volume exceeding existing open interest at a strike, is the usual bar for "unusual".