Sector
Flow
Stop picking stocks for a minute. Money often rotates between sectors before that shows up in a single stock's price, and that rotation is what this page is built to catch.
Eleven sector ETFs, each carrying a sentiment score on a 0 to 100 scale, centered at 50, built from options activity across every ticker mapped to that sector, overwhelmingly the individual stocks inside it, though the ETF's own prints count too when they clear the activity floor. The useful read is not the score by itself. It's the score disagreeing with the ETF's own price.
THE 60-SECOND VERSION
Divergence is the whole trade.
A bullish score on a green sector tells you what the chart already told you. A bullish score on a red sector is somebody buying weakness with real money while the screen looks bad. That second case is the reason this page exists.
Somebody is buying the dip
The sector is red on the day and the flow underneath it is net bullish with real premium behind it. Easy to miss, because the chart says the opposite of the flow. This is the highest-value read on the page.
LOOK FOR LONGS IN THAT SECTOR
Somebody is selling the rip
The sector is green and the flow is net bearish. Either they're hedging into strength or fading it outright. A bad sector to chase breakouts in today, a good one to take profits in.
TIGHTEN STOPS, DO NOT CHASE
Read this before you use it: the sentiment score aggregates options activity across every ticker mapped to that sector, overwhelmingly the individual stocks inside it, though the sector ETF's own prints count too when they clear the activity floor and fire. A bearish score under XLK's name is mostly bearish flow on the tech stocks inside it, not necessarily hedging on XLK itself, though a big print on XLK moves it too. That also means one loud mega-cap sweep can carry a whole sector's score by itself, which is exactly why the flow count behind a big number is worth checking on the sector's drill-down page (premium tier) before you trust it. The ETF price next to it is a live quote of the ETF, pulled separately, so the two columns really can come from two different places.
THE ALPHA
It stops you fighting the tide.
Most losing trades aren't bad stock picks. They're good stock picks in the wrong sector on the wrong week. Three things this page gives you that a single-name feed can't.
You like a semi name. XLK's flow score is 30. That's not a reason to abandon the idea, but it is a reason to halve the size and widen the stop.
If the whole sector is being bought you can express that in the ETF itself. Cleaner, more liquid, and you're not carrying single-name headline risk for a macro view.
A sudden spike in XLU or XLP flow while XLK and XLY turn bearish is defensive rotation. That pattern is a size-down signal for your whole book, not a trade in itself.
ANNOTATED · THE REAL SCREEN
Read the score against the price.
Two columns do the work here: Sentiment Score and % Change. When they point the same way it's confirmation. When they disagree it's a setup.
| Sector | Last | % Change 2 | Spark | Net Flow 3 | C/P 4 | Sentiment 1 | Signals | Read |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XLEEnergy | $85.10 | -1.8% | ▼ | +$4.10M | 2.10 | 81 | WALL ↑ | DIVERGENCE |
| XLUUtilities | $72.30 | +0.9% | ▲ | +$1.20M | 1.35 | 71 | RISK-OFF | DEFENSIVE |
| XLPConsumer Staples | $81.40 | +0.3% | ▲ | +$0.62M | 1.10 | 59 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLBMaterials | $91.20 | +0.6% | ▲ | +$0.91M | 1.08 | 57 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLVHealth Care | $148.60 | +0.5% | ▲ | +$1.05M | 1.06 | 55 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLCCommunication Services | $105.30 | +0.2% | ▲ | +$0.58M | 1.05 | 54 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLREReal Estate | $42.80 | -0.2% | ▼ | +$0.34M | 1.04 | 53 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLFFinancials | $52.10 | +0.3% | ▲ | +$2.80M | 1.03 | 52 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLIIndustrials | $138.90 | -0.1% | ▼ | -$1.40M | 0.92 | 46 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLYConsumer Discretionary | $195.40 | -0.4% | ▼ | -$1.95M | 0.85 | 41 | N/A | NO SIGNAL |
| XLKTechnology | $245.70 | +1.4% | ▲ | -$9.60M | 0.55 | 31 | WALL ↓ | DO NOT CHASE |
Illustrative rows built from the real column set and scoring formula. Not live quotes, not recommendations. Spark is shown here as a simplified up/down glyph, not a full chart. Sorted by score here to make the divergence pattern easy to see, not the product's default order (that's % change). The "Read" column is our annotation, not a field in the product.
What this screen is saying: XLE is down 1.8% carrying an 81 sentiment score and +$4.10M net flow (C/P 2.10). Somebody is accumulating energy exposure while the sector sells off. XLK is up 1.4% carrying a 31 sentiment score and -$9.60M net flow (C/P 0.55), so buying in tech is being sold into or hedged hard. XLU turning modestly positive at 71 is the defensive tell. Put those three together and the day's message is rotation out of tech, into energy and safety. That's a more useful read than any single row. The total premium and flow count behind any of these sit one click away on that ETF's drill-down page (premium tier).
Sentiment Score, 0 to 100, centered at 50
The ratio of bullish to bearish premium across every ticker mapped to that sector, overwhelmingly the individual stocks inside it, though the ETF's own prints count too when they clear the activity floor. Above 60 is net bullish, below 40 is net bearish, 40 to 60 is mixed. Don't read a 53 as mildly bullish. It's nothing.
LOOK FOR → beyond 70 or under 30
ETF price change, read against the score
The sector ETF's own quote, read against the score. On the Today window it's a live intraday fetch, refreshed on every read. On 5D and 1M it's derived from the daily-close sparkline instead, with no live refetch. Same direction as the score is confirmation, opposite directions is the divergence play.
LOOK FOR → score and price disagreeing
Net Flow, the signed dollar conviction behind it
Bullish premium minus bearish premium, in dollars, across the sector. Positive means call-dominant positioning, negative means puts. The raw total premium behind it, both sides added rather than netted, is a separate stat one click away on the ETF's drill-down page, gated to the premium tier.
LOOK FOR → $1M+ net either way
C/P Ratio, how lopsided the flow is
Bullish premium divided by bearish premium. Above 1 is call-dominant, below 1 is put-dominant. Because the score sums across many tickers rather than one chain, a single mega-cap sweep can swing this ratio on its own. The flow count behind it lives on the ETF's drill-down page (premium tier), not in this grid.
LOOK FOR → far from 1.0, in either direction
Risk-on: where money shows up first
Six cyclical sectors. Rotation into these is the market getting comfortable.
Defensive: where money hides
Utilities, staples and health care, plus two sectors that trade on their own logic.
WORKED EXAMPLE · ILLUSTRATIVE
Trading the XLE divergence.
Energy down 1.8%, flow score 81, $4.10M of premium across eight signals. The sector looks awful and the money says otherwise. Real ticker, illustrative fills.
The score and the chart disagree
Pre-market check, sorted by score. XLE sits at 81 while being the worst performer on the day. Eight separate flows, not one big print. Note it and do nothing yet. One day of divergence is a coincidence.
It holds, and now you check the single names
XLE is still positive, still red on price. Two checks: are the energy names showing up bullish in Unusual Activity too? Yes. Now the sector read has single-name support underneath it, which is what turns it into a trade.
Express it in the ETF, not in one stock
The thesis is "energy gets bought," not "this one oil company beats expectations." So buy the sector. XLE at $86.40, buy 4 XLE $87 calls, 45 DTE at $2.35, which is $940 at risk. No single-name headline can wreck this, and the liquidity is excellent.
Out when the divergence closes
XLE grinds to $90.10 and the flow score falls back to 57 as the buying stops. The gap you were trading has closed, so the trade is over whether or not it keeps going. Contracts mark $4.30. Sell all four.
Illustrative. A 4.3% move in the underlying producing 83% on the option is leverage doing its job. It works just as hard against you, which is why 45 DTE and not 10.
Crude drops another 5% on a supply headline and XLE goes to $82. The flow score stays above 50 the whole way down, which is the uncomfortable part: the accumulation was real, it was just early. Contracts mark $0.80 and you're down $620. Sector flow can be right about the destination and badly wrong about the timing, and options have an expiry date. That's the mismatch to respect.
THE FILTER
Green flags, red flags.
✓Act on it when…
✕Ignore it when…
HOW PEOPLE LOSE MONEY HERE
Three mistakes, in order of cost.
Assuming the score is only the ETF's own options flow
It's mostly not. The number sums premium across every ticker the platform maps to that sector, overwhelmingly individual stocks and sometimes hundreds of names, though the ETF's own prints count too when they clear the activity floor. A bearish Technology score is mostly bearish flow on the actual tech stocks, and a single huge print on one of them, or on XLK itself, can carry the whole sector by itself.
Assuming a bullish sector score means your ticker is being bought
Because the score is premium-weighted across the sector's stocks, a handful of mega-cap prints can carry it while your specific name trades against the tape all week. The sector agreeing with your idea is support, not proof.
Trading a one-day divergence with a short expiry
Rotation takes days or weeks to play out. Buying weeklies on a sector read is a bet that the timing is perfect, and timing is the one thing this page can't give you.
PAIRS WITH
Best used as a filter, not a starting point.
Almost nobody should open this page first. Find the name somewhere else, then come here and ask whether the sector is helping or fighting you.
Write down the top and bottom sector every morning for two weeks.
Nothing else. Just the strongest and weakest flow score each day. After ten sessions rotation starts looking like a shape instead of a number, and you'll stop taking longs in a sector that's quietly being sold.
Every score, price, fill and profit and loss figure on this page is illustrative and built from the real structure of the tool. Nothing here is a recommendation, a live quote, or a promise of a result. Options carry substantial risk of loss, including total loss of premium paid.