Net Premium Flow

What it adds up

Net Premium Flow (Net Premium Flow) adds up the premiums of options trades with signs. Trades executed as buys at the ask count positive, and trades executed as sells at the bid count negative. The result shows which side is putting real money on the table right now, for calls and puts separately.

Why premium, not contract count

A thousand cheap, far-out contracts weigh less than a hundred expensive near ones. The money paid is the honest measure of conviction. So it is added up in dollars, not counts, which keeps comparisons fair across symbols and days.

Reading it

Positive on calls: funded bullish pressure. Positive on puts: demand for protection or a funded bearish bet. Its path through the session and its reversals are the most useful part: a switch from net selling to net buying within an hour says more than the closing number.

Hypothetical example

A SPY session opens with net premium selling, then flips after an economic release into accelerating net buying of calls. Money changed its mind in front of you, and the indicator bar sums it up in the "flow dominance" cell.

Common mistake

Do not always read positive net put flow as bearish: protection buying sometimes peaks at fear lows, just before rebounds. Flow tells you what money is doing, and the interpretation needs the context of the regime.

Why read it net, not gross

The gross figure mixes buying with selling and inflates the number with no direction. The net (call premiums minus protection premiums) shows where money is actually leaning, and its change during the session says more than its instant value.

Where to see it on the platform

The indicator bar shows the live net premium of SPY with its status. The Net Flow page draws its path within the session and its reversals for each timeframe.

The top bar shows its live net value, and the flow tools draw its path through the session.