# Order Heatmap

Today's options contracts at each strike split into call buys, call sells, put buys and put sells, to see which side is aggressive where.

**Order Heatmap** splits today's options trading at each strike into four
columns: **call buy**, **call sell**, **put buy** and **put sell**. Brighter
cells hold more contracts, the largest is lit up, and the dashed row marks
spot. The header totals the contracts. **Details** sets the expiry scope and
how many strikes to show, and lists the totals for each column.

Marked **(Beta)** in the widget picker: it is newer, and some of the options
data behind it can lag the live market by several minutes.

## Practical application

![Order Heatmap widget, illustrative example: puts bought at 26,900 and calls bought, not sold, around 27,275](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/order-heatmap.png "Illustrative example data, not a real session. NQ, 90-day scope, 40 strikes: 36K contracts; the largest cell is 747 puts bought at 26,900, against 159 sold there.")

**Reading it.** Near spot the four columns are close to even, about 440 to
520 contracts each: ordinary two-way trading. Two places break the pattern.
At **26,900**, **747 puts were bought** against only 159 sold, the largest
cell on the map. At **27,250 to 27,275**, calls were bought far more than sold:
466 and 462 bought against 192 and 113 sold. In total, buyers led on both
sides: 10.0K calls bought against 9.0K sold, and 9.3K puts bought against
7.7K sold.

**What it means.** Traders were paying up for protection at 26,900 and for
upside at the call wall at the same time: positioning for a move away from
the current price in either direction.

**How to use it.**

- **One column much brighter than its pair at a strike:** someone is
  pressing that side there. Mark the strike.
- **Put buying below price:** demand for protection at that strike. In
  positive gamma it tends to slow a drop; below the gamma flip it can speed
  one up instead.
- **Call selling above price:** traders capping upside; rallies into that
  strike tend to slow.
- Switch the **scope** to 0DTE to see what is driving today's moves.