The seven patterns behind Tradytics Signals
By Faizan Ahmad. Updated .
Every Tradytics signal comes from one of seven patterns in options flow, each one tested on years of flow and what the contracts did afterwards: repeat flow, opening calls, heavy calls, ETF repeat, ITM puts, call burst and index tide. When a live order matches a pattern, the signal is to buy that same contract, a call or a put, at the ask. Plus and Pro see signals live at /signals; Free sees them a day late.
What does each pattern watch for?
| Pattern | The print | What has to be true |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat flow | A call or put bought | The 7th buy today on the same contract, 2% in the money to 15% out of the money, making up 40% or more of the ticker's prints so far, with less than half as much premium sold on it |
| Opening calls | A call bought | The print is half to all of the contract's open interest, implied volatility is within 5% of the stock's normal, and the stock's 20-day realized volatility is 20% to 35% |
| Heavy calls | A call bought | The contract's volume today is 3 to 10 times its open interest, implied volatility is under 60%, and the stock is under $30 |
| ETF repeat | An ETF call bought | 2% to 10% in the money, and the same contract bought on at least 2 of the last 5 sessions |
| ITM puts | A put bought | At least 2% in the money, on a stock priced $300 or more that trades $20M to $500M a day |
| Call burst | A call bought | The stock's bullish premium over a quarter hour runs 2 to 5 times its 20-session norm, the stock rose 0.5% to 2% the session before, and SPY is up 1% or more on the day |
| Index tide | A call bought in a single stock, within 10% of the money | Net directional premium in SPY, QQQ and IWM over the same quarter hour is unusually bullish, about one standard deviation or more above normal |
What does each pattern mean in plain words?
- Repeat flow. One contract keeps getting bought through the session and dominates the ticker's flow, with little selling against it. One view, repeated.
- Opening calls. A single order about as large as everything already open on the contract, bought while the options aren't expensive for that stock, in a calm stock. A fresh position, not a hedge being rolled.
- Heavy calls. Today's volume in one call is several times the contracts that existed this morning, so most of it is new money, and nobody paid up for volatility to get it. Volume vs open interest covers why that matters.
- ETF repeat. The same in-the-money ETF call keeps getting bought, session after session. Repetition across days looks like a position being built.
- ITM puts. Someone pays the ask for puts that already have real value on an expensive stock. In-the-money puts move closely with the stock, so this is a deliberate bearish bet, or a hedge big enough to matter. It is the one put-only pattern in the set.
- Call burst. Call buying in one stock suddenly runs several times its usual pace, after a modest up day, on a day the whole market is rising. Buyers leaning into strength.
- Index tide. When index flow swings hard to the bullish side, calls bought in single stocks in the same quarter hour ride the wave. Among them, the contracts with the tightest spreads are picked.
Most of the patterns are call buying. That's what the data supported: the only put-only pattern that held up in both the study and the later replay was in-the-money put buying on high-priced names. Why the rest were dropped is in how Tradytics Signals are built.
What rules apply to every signal?
- A clean, single-leg print. No spreads or other multi-leg orders, no late or canceled reports.
- Regular hours. Printed between 9:30 AM and 3:59 PM New York time.
- Shorter-dated. The contract expires within 45 days.
- Once per session. Only the first matching print per pattern and ticker becomes a signal (per contract for repeat flow).
- The side is confirmed. A buy must print at or above the ask. At the ask vs at the bid explains the tag.
- Expensive or junk contracts are out. Implied volatility above 1.3 times the stock's normal, at-the-money contracts under $0.25 and 0DTE buys in the last 30 minutes never become signals.
- The trained filter. A model scores each matching print and hides the weakest 40%, on every pattern but repeat flow.
- Tight markets where it helps. ITM puts, heavy calls and opening calls also need a bid/ask spread of at most 10% of the midpoint.
- Batches are capped. Call burst and index tide arrive in batches on one-sided days, so each keeps at most 5 a day, the tightest spreads first. Repeat flow keeps the first 6.
What does a signal show?
The pattern, the exact contract (ticker, call or put, strike, expiry), the bid and ask when it fired, a short note on what the flow did, and the flow behind it: this contract's prints, the ticker's flow in the 15 minutes before, and the index flow. Return tracks the contract's mark every 5 minutes against the ask paid, Best keeps its high, and after expiry it settles at what the option was worth at the close. How Tradytics Signals work walks through the page.
Common questions
Are Tradytics Signals calls or spreads?
Single calls and puts. Each signal is the contract the flow bought, so you see exactly what triggered it.
Why are most signals calls?
Because the patterns that held up on real option prices were mostly call buying. Puts come from ITM puts on stocks priced $300 or more, and from repeat flow when the repeated contract is a put.
How many signals come in a day?
It varies with the market. Call burst and index tide fire in batches on strongly one-sided days, so those days bring more signals than quiet ones.
Do signals say when to sell?
No. A signal is the contract the flow bought. Return and Best show how it has done since; the exit is yours.
Can the patterns change?
The rules are frozen. Changing any condition makes it a new pattern, which has to pass its own replay on past sessions before it produces signals.
Sources
- FINRA: Options: FINRA's investor guide to options, including that an option buyer's maximum loss is the premium paid.
- Cboe Options Institute, glossary: strong open interest, tight spreads and active volume as signs of a liquid option.