Overview of options flow data

How three investor cohorts trade options, and what our data says about their behaviour.

Introduction

Masscrest options flow data covers November 2019 onwards for US single stocks and ETFs. Every transaction is assigned to one of three cohorts: retail (self-directed traders on retail brokers), institutional (asset managers, hedge funds, proprietary desks, or any broker executing on behalf of a client), and inter-dealer (market makers hedging with each other). The sections below walk through how each cohort uses the options market and where its flow carries information.