<p>In this article, we’re going to cover one of the most important parts of tracking unusual options flow. After verifying a new position opened, we have to confirm the position <i>stayed</i> open. Luckily, it’s extremely simple to check open interest in Unusual Whales.</p><p>Before we get into it, make sure you check out the basics &nbsp;by reading <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/information/interactions-between-volume-and-open-interest">the article of how volume and open interest interact</a>!</p><h2>Navigation</h2><p>&nbsp;<a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/chain_oi_changes">Open Interest data</a> on Unusual Whales updates at around 6:30am ET; so a few hours before the market opens. There are a few ways to check open interest changes on-site. First, from the main webpage, you can select “Flow Data”, then “<a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/chain_oi_changes">Open Interest Explorer</a>”.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXes8lHFirBvU_lOz-5o60B8te_HerWIFkiLpspfYc3iPaC9DsuDfGf9oWkRgCd7Y7oWJx0l7z6WgGcG7yx17cgmY-9m4LgLDz6ewOwhOKuyfVdW0usW4rru5nOtzBOaHcuoQ7AyhQ?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><p>You can also get to the Open Interest Explorer directly from any other platform page via the navigation tab on the left side of the page. All you have to do is click the three lines, select “Options Data”, then “Open Interest Explorer.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXf688hP1STMvc4bjA559dBKw45zqQg49uLUdBxzirIFrlWtvOR9JP_A9oyMJkih6_Wuqa4hZ4iG8JS09zPr8u0--tZdJYy6nHCSvGI8rRY-96uVM_pLLbA-Z5qtEOPXBzD3XW0uOw?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><h2>Layout</h2><p>Like all other flow and screener pages, the <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/chain_oi_changes">Open Interest Change</a> feature has various filters you can use to narrow down the results of your feed. It displays the Daily Open Interest changes, and you can sort by all columns, in this example, it’s sorted by the largest OI change overnight.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdf_4afVDCPwo9BO4KIKWMd2Ejo0pm2_qIEIbLMKgEA2E2LsAfPUhZHjCJClRSP9AUbwP1e5kVeVQzbLZhBWCZi112ldTxzU8v9QtBMlTKh-H399_eOFLz8-J2pYI-IR0JYwEsJNw?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><h2>Ticker OI Changes and Filters</h2><p>From here, we can also navigate to the <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/oi_changes">Ticker OI Changes</a> page. Here, we can visualize which stocks had the largest changes in open interest across all contract strikes for a given ticker. We can filter this page, as well, to adjust the change in open interest by percentage or raw count, contract type (Put or Call) and percentages, as well as Bid and Ask skew. We can also adjust which stock sectors appear in the feed, or limit the feed to our own watchlists.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdYYWuISixQkUONsVWNjjOr103oB6R1owmG7pJkew-2Stl7Clu2j5oswa5m4m2ocgCv64OtlBDZ2eJR8LocjJqbahOmtfLPe4g8_Uj9eVq1Cxm9XX8voKUZvxMkbyp5chMljKZIsg?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><p>In <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/oi_changes?excluded_index_etf=false&amp;limit=50&amp;max_total_oi_change=5&amp;min_ask_skew=0.75&amp;min_total_oi_change=0.25&amp;min_total_oi_diff_plain=450&amp;order=total_call_oi_change&amp;sort_direction=desc&amp;watchlist_name=25%25%2B%20Change%2C%2075%25%20Ask%20Skew">this example</a>, we’ve set the feed to only display tickers with 25% to 500% increases in Open Interest, with a minimum of 450 raw OI change, 75% or higher ask-side skew, and all other settings left blank to capture both put and call increases. <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/stock/LAUR/open-interest-changes">Laureate Education $LAUR</a> has the highest percentage change in Open Interest (438%), however, note that the Open Interest came mostly from bid-side calls; only 1 open interest came from the ask-side skew, a single Put contract transacted at the ask. That means that most of $LAUR open interest came from those Bid-side calls; so it’s not hitting the mark for us with the goal of this filter (ask-side, new positions). The next selection down, however, does.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXdMhS3cxRfmi6qxGwhGXfl8bJbP03QhFqnrCYGt-KKKyVFp84EmIY8ZJ4_ver_UdrfzJajVCVqDN-D70kEOndcmQDsCo9S8aE3Bh92HapQDi_jWdbBPdDlD62Nm53JFEAuCFg8Wuw?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><p><a href="https://unusualwhales.com/stock/CALX/open-interest-changes">$CALX had a 76% change in Call open interest</a>, and when we click on the two arrows next to the ticker, we see that most of that OI change came from transactions on one contract. The <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/option_chains?chain=CALX241115C00037500">$37.5C expiring on 11/15/2024</a> has a previous open interest of 462, with 1,816 contracts of the prior day’s volume carrying over into open interest; a 393% from prior open interest. Could be something worth looking into, there.</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXeuCbo7de5UmrtWgF7PSlMOOFcGaNTMyrm5FlRueYpS9rKq0XHj7UwZtjVT1tfB_kFIPZgtriTo4Ro1hTHsJOZqiOufCNMXv4rDC3yjiHAxY4DsjLfm3SmS49asyHZwqQ4-FngDNA?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><h2>Contract Look Up</h2><p>You can also navigate to the<a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/option_chains"> Contract Look Up</a> page for full contract breakdowns from the Open Interest Explorer. We’ve written about the Contract Look Up before, but as a small refresher: On the Contract Lookup page, you can navigate to the highest options chains and tickers by open interest. You can view the full contract breakdown and historical data on this page, and it automatically keeps track of contracts you’ve looked up previously.&nbsp;</p><p>Within the <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/flow/option_chains">Contract Lookup</a>, you can search for tickers and view the Chains with the highest volume. You can do so with any ticker you’d like; in the example below we’ve used <a href="https://unusualwhales.com/stock/AAPL/overview">Apple, $AAPL</a>. You can sort the feed by any column you’d like; it just depends on what you’re looking for.&nbsp;</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://lh7-rt.googleusercontent.com/docsz/AD_4nXc9BID7-x_FAdvs3iS5IKtkeq4QmJ_jaPZ68tURYmm8eiuGjqgy4b0nq7ekNRochxuyHZ9c1gJ0zjI_KmvNDd9Esqhn7XgLwLNAGGQuAuLd7RiAn2P6g-XuK6xClCl1efqIAU8W?key=Wzu6X81Vdwz_95SpvdUehdUY"></figure><p>You can also filter out Calls or Puts, and fine tune the feed to display only contracts whose OI has increased, whose Volume is greater than Open Interest, whether you want out of the money only contracts to display, and more with the Filters!</p><h2>Related Articles</h2><ul><li><a href="https://unusualwhales.com/information/how-to-read-an-option-contract">How to read an Option Contract</a></li><li><a href="https://unusualwhales.com/information/breaking-down-an-option-contract-chart">Breaking Down an Option Contract Chart</a></li><li><a href="https://unusualwhales.com/information/how-can-i-know-if-a-contract-is-bought-or-sold-how-do-i-know-if-an-option-contract-is-being-opened-or-closed">How do I know if a contract is bought or sold/closed or opened?</a></li></ul>

How to Use and FIlter the Open Interest Explorer

This article explains where to find the Open Interest explorer, what each filter criteria means, and how to build your own Open Interest Explorer filter

How to Check and Use the Open Interest Explorer

The Discord options_screener Command Step-by-Step and How To Spot Institutional Option Trades With It

How to Plot the 0DTE Straddle Breakeven Prices on Your Periscope Chart and Why You Should Care

Earnings Date Differences Explained: Gaining Confidence in Your Unusual Whales Data

Delta Airlines $DAL Unusual Options Activity Lookback

What is the ETF Overview?

How to Fix 404 Errors when Using AI Tools with the Unusual Whales API

Theoretical Value

Book Value

Market Capitalization (Market Cap)

Mutual Fund

Par Value

Volatility Index (VIX)

Price-to-Earnings Ratio

Yield Curve

Value Stock

Treasury Note (T-Note)

Treasury Bond (T-Bond)

Treasury Bill (T-Bill)

Stock Split

Short Selling

Short Interest

Risk Tolerance

Revenue

Recession

Synthetic Short

Synthetic Long

Synthetic Position

Over-the-Counter (OTC) Market

Money Market Fund (MMF)

Stop Order

Market Order

Limit Order

Interest Rate Risk

Periscope FAQ

How To Interpret Periscope Net Gamma Exposure

Quick Custom Alert Presets

Institutional Investor

Retail Investor

IPO (Initial Public Offering)

Hedge Fund

Growth Stock

Futures Contract

Fundamental Analysis

Technical Analysis

Float

Short Squeeze

Flow Review February 12, 2025: Unusual Activity on $KWEB and a Follow Up Trade

Flow Review June 15, 2024: How we used Unusual Whales to know when Roaring Kitty exited his GameStop, $GME calls

Flow Review June 5, 2024: A Breakdown of Roaring Kitty's GameStop $GME options activity, and how we tracked it

Flow Review January 30, 2025: Identifying Put Writes with $AMZN and tracking Unusual Options Activity in $CLS

Flow Review September 4, 2024: Super Micro Computer, $SMCI, and its unusual trading days before major news event

Flow Review September 11, 2024: PLTR and DELL join the S&P500, a look back at their options activity beforehand

Flow Review September 2024: Unusual Shorting Flow and how to Spot PUT Writing with $CRWD

Flow Review November 2024: Trading around Crypto stock $CLSK around Trump's Election

Flow Review November 2024: Unusual Options Activity around Microsoft $MSFT and $AI news

Probability of Profit (POP)

Flow Review $COF August, 2024: Following a $COF trader using Historical Flow

Flow Review $SMCI, October 2024: Walking through SMCI Unusual Flow

Flow Review $TIGR, $PDD, $BABA October 2024: Breaking down Unusual Options Flow in Chinese Stocks, and how Options helped push the Chinese stock market frenzy