Block Trades and Selected Opportunities Guide
العربيةLearn to read large reported stock prints, execution side, relative size, condition codes, and data quality.
Video walkthrough
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A price chart alone does not show where unusually large reported stock trades took place. Block Trades help you find those trades and compare their size, price, timing, and conditions with normal activity. A large trade shows that trading occurred; it does not reveal the owner's complete position, intent, or hedge.
What the page shows
| Field or control | How to use it |
|---|---|
| Symbol, date, session, and time | Identify the security and when the report occurred. Session labels and time zones matter around open, close, and after-hours liquidity. |
| Previous close, trade price, and change | Compare the print with the previous close and current market instead of reading the print price in isolation. |
| Size, average size, and relative size | Show the share count, normal activity benchmark, and how exceptional the print is relative to that benchmark. |
| Dollar value | Provides scale, but a high notional amount does not establish conviction or direction. |
| Buy, sell, or neutral | Classifies execution near ask, bid, or between quotes. It estimates pressure at execution and is not the participant's full strategy. |
| Delta | Compares aggregated buy-classified and sell-classified size for the selected grouping. |
| Condition and quality | Distinguishes regular prints, auctions, sweeps, crosses, derivative-related or contingent trades, delayed reports, odd lots, halts, and listing-risk warnings. |
| Chart and related context | Places the print beside price structure, AVWAP, volume profile, news, and other independent evidence. |
Recommended workflow
- Confirm the timestamp, market session, and whether the report is current or delayed.
- Compare trade price with the live quote, previous close, and nearby technical structure.
- Measure size against normal volume and review dollar value without treating either as direction.
- Read the execution-side estimate and the exact condition code before classifying pressure.
- Separate regular and auction prints from contingent, derivative-related, old-price, or warning states.
- For SPY or index products, compare constituent and index evidence rather than assuming one print controls the market.
- For company-specific prints, check scheduled earnings, corporate actions, and unexpected news.
- Define what would invalidate the hypothesis; recheck after the open, close, or a major price move.
How to interpret the result
- Regular-session prints and transparent auction or cross conditions usually provide cleaner context than delayed or derived-price reports.
- Opening and closing auctions can reflect benchmark or index activity rather than a new directional position.
- Contingent, qualified, derivative-related, or multi-leg conditions may belong to a larger hedge whose direction cannot be inferred from one leg.
- After-hours reports have different liquidity; late, old-price, and average-price conditions should not be compared with a live quote as if simultaneous.
- SSR, LULD, deficient, bankrupt, or liquidating flags are risk warnings, not bullish or bearish confirmation.
- A print near a repeated price area can define a level to monitor, but it does not guarantee support, resistance, or a target.
Common mistakes
- Calling every ask-side print accumulation or every bid-side print distribution.
- Ignoring auction, derivative, contingent, delayed, or odd-lot condition codes.
- Using fixed profit claims or assuming block trades predict every move.
- Selecting a short-dated option only because a large stock print appeared.
- Treating absence of a qualifying print as proof that no opportunity exists.
Risk and limitations
Related guides
Accumulation and distribution: what does the whale badge mean?
Not every large trade is accumulation or distribution. The whale badge highlights an exceptionally large trade executed outside the best bid and ask. The platform reads it as a possible counter-move to the pressure seen at execution. It draws attention to an area worth watching; it does not confirm that a reversal has begun.
▲ Accumulation
The green badge marks an exceptionally large trade below the best Bid. The platform interprets this as possible absorption of selling pressure by the other side. Accumulation is a possible interpretation, not proof of the buyer's identity or a long-term position.
Watch the subsequent price response: does the decline pause and the area hold, or does price keep falling? The badge does not turn continued selling into a confirmed buying opportunity.
▼ Distribution
The red badge marks an exceptionally large trade above the best Ask. The platform interprets this as possible absorption of buying pressure by substantial supply. The badge alone cannot prove that an institution is exiting.
Watch whether price can continue higher or hold above the area. Strong demand may sustain the move despite the badge.
These are contrarian readings of a single trade's execution, not totals of all buying or selling for the day. Accumulation may therefore carry a Buy classification despite execution below Bid, and distribution a Sell classification despite execution above Ask. Do not confuse this interpretation with the side that initiated execution.
The detector does not produce whale badges for every session or symbol. It excludes trading outside the core session, the third Friday of the month and certain excluded funds. No badge does not mean no large trades.
Buy and sell exhaustion: which side may be tiring?
Unlike a single-trade whale badge, exhaustion combines recent trade activity for a symbol. It looks for one-sided execution by volume, trade count and consecutive trades, with a large trade present in the observation window. Price need not have reversed; the warning highlights pressure that may be difficult to sustain.
▼ Buy Exhaustion
Aggressive buying above Ask meets the detector's concentration conditions. This warns about potentially tiring buyers or a slowing rise; it is not a Buy instruction. Buy in the exhaustion filter names the side that may be exhausted.
▲ Sell Exhaustion
Aggressive selling below Bid meets the detector's concentration conditions. This can flag weakening selling pressure, but does not guarantee a bounce. Sell here is not an instruction to sell.
Read the exhaustion badge
- L2 means two of the three exhaustion conditions are met; L3 means all three are met. This counts conditions, not the chance of a successful trade.
- A downward arrow accompanies buy exhaustion and an upward arrow sell exhaustion. The level's color shows warning intensity, not trade direction.
- The percentage prefixed with R in the hover text is the share of volume executed on that side within the calculation window, not the probability of reversal.
- A signal calculated from recent activity can be carried to the next displayed trade. Do not assume the row alone generated the exhaustion signal, or that changing table filters recalculates it.
The trend can continue after accumulation, distribution or exhaustion appears. Check trade time and conditions, then compare the reading with the chart, news and subsequent price action. These are clues to review, not entry orders or a promise of profit.
Use the whale activity and exhaustion filters
- Open the filter panel and first choose the symbol or watchlist, date range and session. Review any size, amount and price limits already set; they still apply alongside signal filters.
- Under Whale Activity, select Accumulation or Distribution to find rows carrying that badge. Selecting both shows either type; a row does not need both badges.
- Under Exhaustion, select Buy for buy exhaustion or Sell for sell exhaustion. Selecting both shows rows with either exhaustion type, not all trades.
- When both the whale and exhaustion groups are active, a row must match a choice in each group. Accumulation plus Sell Exhaustion, for example, finds rows carrying both. Results may be fewer or empty.
- Results update automatically after a selection changes. Wait for the update, inspect the badge in the Condition column and hover over it for details.
- Clear every checkbox in a group to remove that group's restriction. To start over, use Reset Filters, then review the defaults and date range; reset does not search the market's entire history. If results remain empty, relax size, date or watchlist restrictions one at a time.
Example: view Accumulation alone, then add Sell Exhaustion to see which rows carry both clues. To see all whale activity without requiring exhaustion, select Accumulation and Distribution and leave Exhaustion unchecked. Filters select recorded signals; they do not change their calculation.
Page components explained
Accumulation and distribution
Accumulation flags an exceptionally large trade below Bid, read as possible absorption of selling. Distribution flags one above Ask, read as possible absorption of buying. These are contrarian interpretations, not proof of an institution's position. Select either badge to filter; both means either type, while clearing both removes this restriction. An active exhaustion filter must also match the same row. See the detailed badge and filter sections in this guide.
Buy and sell exhaustion filters
Buy selects buy exhaustion, not a buying recommendation; Sell selects sell exhaustion, not a selling recommendation. The detector combines recent activity, rather than the displayed trade alone. L2 and L3 count conditions met, not success probabilities. Select both to include either exhaustion type; clear both to remove the restriction. Combining this with Whale Activity requires both groups to match the same row. Results update automatically.
Find reported trades
Start with stock, dates and sessions, then narrow by size, amount or price. Results update automatically after you change a filter; wait for the table to finish loading. Conditions from different groups must match the same row. In Whale Activity or Exhaustion, selecting both choices includes either type; clearing both removes that group's restriction. If results are empty, remove one condition at a time or use Reset filters to start again. The question marks beside these two groups open their explanations. See the detailed badge and filter examples earlier in this guide. Check the displayed timezone when comparing a trade with a candle.
Read block trades
Compare time, price, size, amount and trade condition. Buy/Sell is a classification, not a complete account of the trader's intent. Delayed or special-condition prints need extra care before comparing them with current price.
Size relative to normal
Use this filter to focus on activity that is large relative to its reference. A large relative value highlights an unusual print, not a guaranteed direction or institutional buyer.
Watchlist and favorite trades
A watchlist restricts stocks; favorites retain particular trade records. Keep the distinction when reviewing a saved selection.
View the trade on a chart
Use the chart to compare reported trade prices with price action and volume. Confirm the stock and period. The chart gives context; it cannot identify why an unseen participant made the trade.
Language
Use the flag to switch the interface language. Check the currency shown on subscription and payment pages after changing language; trading symbols keep their original spelling.
Light and dark mode
Choose the appearance that makes text and chart details comfortable to read. Changing the theme affects the display, not the underlying data or signals.
Page layout
Use this control to change the available page layout. It changes how much space the interface uses, not the meaning of the displayed values.
Fullscreen
In the signed-in app, expand the site to gain more room for charts and tables. Use the control again or Escape to leave browser fullscreen.
Notification bell
Review recent notifications and their timestamps here. The badge counts unread notifications; it is not a count of unreviewed trading opportunities. Delivery channels and rules are managed in alert subscriptions.
Account menu
Open account settings, subscription details and other personal links here. Use sign out when you finish on a shared device.