Understanding the columns in Fintel's unusual options table is crucial for interpreting significant options market activity for QQQ. These tables are designed to highlight trades that stand out from typical daily volume, often signaling informed money flows or strong directional conviction.

Here's a breakdown of the key columns you'll typically encounter and their significance:

• Symbol: This refers to the underlying asset for the option contract, which in your case is QQQ.
• Expiration Date: The date on which the option contract expires. Options with longer expiries showing unusual activity can sometimes indicate a longer-term directional view.
• Strike Price: The fixed price at which the underlying asset can be bought (for a call) or sold (for a put) if the option is exercised.
• Type: Indicates whether the option is a Call (right to buy) or a Put (right to sell). Calls generally benefit from rising prices, while puts benefit from falling prices.
• Volume: The total number of option contracts traded for that specific strike and expiration on a given day. High volume is a prerequisite for identifying unusual activity.
• Open Interest (OI): The total number of outstanding option contracts that have not yet been closed or exercised.
• Volume/OI Ratio: This is a critical metric for identifying truly "unusual" activity. Fintel highlights when the total volume of call or put options exceeds the current open interest, which is considered unusual and often indicates a strong directional signal. A ratio greater than one suggests a significant influx of new positions rather than just closing existing ones.1
• Last Price: The price at which the option contract last traded.
• Bid / Ask: The current highest price a buyer is willing to pay (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (ask). The execution price relative to the bid-ask spread can sometimes indicate if the trade was buyer-initiated (near the ask) or seller-initiated (near the bid).
• Premium: The total dollar value of the options traded, calculated as (Last Price * Volume * 100). This helps to quantify the capital being deployed in the unusual trade.
• Implied Volatility (IV): This reflects the market's expectation of future price fluctuations for the underlying asset. Unusual options activity can sometimes coincide with notable changes in implied volatility, indicating increased market uncertainty or conviction.2
• Trade Classification (e.g., Block/Sweep): Fintel's platform often categorizes large, institutional-sized trades. "Block trades" are typically large, privately negotiated transactions, while "Sweeps" are large orders broken into smaller pieces and executed rapidly across multiple exchanges, often signaling urgency. These classifications help differentiate institutional activity from retail.

By analyzing these columns in conjunction, you can gain deeper insights into potential market movements for QQQ.

I'm referring to fintel's table for unusual options trades https://fintel.io/sout

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Understanding the columns in Fintel's unusual options table is crucial for interpreting significant options market activity for QQQ. These tables are designed to highlight trades that stand out from typical daily volume, often signaling informed money flows or strong directional conviction.

Here's a breakdown of the key columns you'll typically encounter and their significance:

• Symbol: This refers to the underlying asset for the option contract, which in your case is QQQ.
• Expiration Date: The date on which the option contract expires. Options with longer expiries showing unusual activity can sometimes indicate a longer-term directional view.
• Strike Price: The fixed price at which the underlying asset can be bought (for a call) or sold (for a put) if the option is exercised.
• Type: Indicates whether the option is a Call (right to buy) or a Put (right to sell). Calls generally benefit from rising prices, while puts benefit from falling prices.
• Volume: The total number of option contracts traded for that specific strike and expiration on a given day. High volume is a prerequisite for identifying unusual activity.
• Open Interest (OI): The total number of outstanding option contracts that have not yet been closed or exercised.
• Volume/OI Ratio: This is a critical metric for identifying truly "unusual" activity. Fintel highlights when the total volume of call or put options exceeds the current open interest, which is considered unusual and often indicates a strong directional signal. A ratio greater than one suggests a significant influx of new positions rather than just closing existing ones.1
• Last Price: The price at which the option contract last traded.
• Bid / Ask: The current highest price a buyer is willing to pay (bid) and the lowest price a seller is willing to accept (ask). The execution price relative to the bid-ask spread can sometimes indicate if the trade was buyer-initiated (near the ask) or seller-initiated (near the bid).
• Premium: The total dollar value of the options traded, calculated as (Last Price * Volume * 100). This helps to quantify the capital being deployed in the unusual trade.
• Implied Volatility (IV): This reflects the market's expectation of future price fluctuations for the underlying asset. Unusual options activity can sometimes coincide with notable changes in implied volatility, indicating increased market uncertainty or conviction.2
• Trade Classification (e.g., Block/Sweep): Fintel's platform often categorizes large, institutional-sized trades. "Block trades" are typically large, privately negotiated transactions, while "Sweeps" are large orders broken into smaller pieces and executed rapidly across multiple exchanges, often signaling urgency. These classifications help differentiate institutional activity from retail.

By analyzing these columns in conjunction, you can gain deeper insights into potential market movements for QQQ.

What does the DTX column stand for?

The "DTX" column in Fintel's unusual options tables, particularly within sections detailing Put/Call Ratios, stands for Days To Expiration.1

This metric indicates the number of calendar days remaining until the option contract expires. It is a crucial factor in options pricing and strategy, as options generally lose value as they approach expiration (time decay or theta decay). Analyzing "Days To Expiration" in conjunction with unusual options activity can provide insights into the market's short-term versus long-term sentiment. For instance, high unusual volume in short-dated options might suggest an expectation of an immediate price movement, while activity in longer-dated options could indicate a more sustained directional view.

Which column shows how many options were bought or sold?

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Author: AI Assistant Date: 2026-02-18

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The Fintel unusual options table, like most standard options data displays, does not have a single column that explicitly shows whether options were "bought" (opened long) or "sold" (opened short or closed). The 'Volume' column represents the total number of contracts traded, encompassing both purchases and sales.

However, you can infer the likely direction of the trade by examining the 'Last Price' in relation to the 'Bid' and 'Ask' prices.

• If the 'Last Price' of a trade is closer to the 'Ask' price, it generally indicates that the trade was initiated by a buyer (someone purchasing the option). These are often referred to as "above the ask" trades.
• Conversely, if the 'Last Price' is closer to the 'Bid' price, it suggests the trade was initiated by a seller (someone selling the option). These are often referred to as "below the bid" trades.

For very large or "unusual" trades, especially those classified as Block or Sweep trades, this inference becomes more reliable, as institutional participants often execute at or near the bid/ask to ensure order fulfillment. While not a definitive indicator for every single contract within a large volume, this method provides a strong probabilistic assessment of the trade's intent.

I want to know the number of options that were traded

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Author: AI Assistant Date: 2026-02-18

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The column that directly shows the number of options that were traded is the 'Volume' column.

This column represents the total count of option contracts that have changed hands between buyers and sellers for a specific strike price and expiration date during a given trading period. When Fintel identifies "unusual options activity," it often highlights instances where this 'Volume' is significantly higher than the average daily volume or, as previously discussed, exceeds the existing Open Interest (OI).

For example, if the 'Volume' column shows "5,000" for a particular QQQ call option, it means 5,000 contracts of that specific call option were traded. Since each option contract typically represents 100 shares of the underlying asset, this would equate to a notional value tied to 500,000 shares of QQQ. High volume is a primary indicator Fintel uses to flag potentially significant options activity that warrants further investigation.