What Are Call Sweeps? Unusual Options Sweeps

Sweeps are large orders, meaning the trader who placed the order has a heavy bank roll, i.e. “smart money.” Sweep orders indicate that the trader or investor wants to take position in a rush, while staying under the radar - Suggesting that they are believing in a large move in the underlying stock in the near future. This can be within the same day or same week or next month, depending on the expiration date.

An option sweep is a market order that is split into various segments to take advantage of all available contracts at the best prices currently offered across all exchanges. Think of this as someone sneaking by stealing a few cookies from each jar, they don't want to be caught but still want to take as much food as they can. By doing so, the trader is “sweeping” the order until the order is filled completely. Why are they called option sweeps? That’s exactly why! These orders print to the tape as multiple smaller orders that are executed just milliseconds apart - When added up, they can many times equal some very large sizes. These type of sweep orders are especially useful for institution traders (smart money) who prefer speed and stealth. They don’t want everyone to find out of what’s going on so they can take advantage of lower prices. The great thing is Sweepcast.com offers the ability to detect this Unusual Options Activity with Call and Put Sweep detection.

There are two main reasons why retail options traders care about sweep orders:

1. Sweeps are large orders, meaning the trader who placed the order has a hefty bank roll, i.e. “smart money.”

2. Sweep orders indicate that the trader wants to take position in a hurry, while staying a bit under the radar - Suggesting that they are anticipating a large move in the underlying stock in the near future.

By looking out for option sweeps or also called sweepers retail traders like myself can get insights of what the market’s “smart-money” big money managers aka high-rollers are thinking and exactly how they are positioning. Sweepcast.com Unusual Activity Scanner helps retail options traders do exactly that. The SweepCast.com Unusual Option Flow platform provides data in real time and allows you to create a watchlist which alerts you only when the option order flow see Call or Put Sweeps. Compared to other platforms such as Flowago or Cheddarflow, SweepCast by far offers the BEST value for your money. SweepCast is rated A+ by Pineapple Stocks.