Category Archives: Weekly Pulse

Weekly options flow + dark pool imbalance report. Sector heatmaps, multi-day accumulation and distribution, unusual activity flags. Published Saturday morning.

AZTMM Closing Pulse · Week of May 11-15, 2026

Closing Pulse · Week of May 11–15, 2026 · Full 5-session institutional flow tape

Volatile week with massive institutional dark-pool activity. Tuesday delivered a $4.9B SPY off-exchange dump as the tide troughed −$758M intraday. Wed/Thu recovered. Friday reversed back to bearish into the close. Weekly net call flow barely positive at +$67M cumulative.

5 sessions of true options-flow + dark-pool data. SPY 5-day off-exchange notional: $17.1B. QQQ: $5.0B. Tuesday 5/12 was the institutional dump day — both options tide and dark-pool prints peaked. Friday closed defensive with QQQ June puts dominating the conviction tape.

Honest framing. Retrospective read on closing positioning. Not a forecast, not a recommendation. MPI closed Friday at 57 (Bull · early, 85% CI) — the regime composite is a longer-horizon read and doesn’t flip on a single bearish session, but the texture matters.

Weekly EOD Net Call

+$67M

5-day cumulative

Bull / Bear Days

3 / 2

Mixed tape

SPY 5-Day Dark Pool

$17.1B

97 mega-prints

QQQ 5-Day Dark Pool

$5.02B

40 mega-prints

MPI (Fri close)

57

Bull · early · 85% CI

Fri EOD Tide

−$471.8M

Net put-led close

5-Day Tide SparkbarEOD net call premium · options tape

Mon 5/11
+$277M
peak +$368M @ 4:35p
Tue 5/12
−$486M
trough −$758M @ 2:55p
Wed 5/13
+$437M
peak +$475M @ 4:25p
Thu 5/14
+$311M
peak +$338M @ 3:00p
Fri 5/15
−$472M
trough −$472M @ 5:55p

Visual: bars above the zero line are net-call (bullish flow), below are net-put (bearish flow). Trough/peak times reflect intraday extremes. Tue 5/12 troughed at −$758M mid-session — the week’s most aggressive single-day sell-off.

5-Day Institutional Dark PoolSPY · QQQ · NVDA off-exchange notional + mega-prints

SessionSPY totalSPY ≥100KQQQ totalQQQ ≥50KNVDA total
Mon 5/11$2.01B10$1.74B15$25.1M
Tue 5/12 ⚠️$4.91B23$880M10$31.3M
Wed 5/13$3.68B23$442M3$24.7M
Thu 5/14$3.03B19$713M2$22.3M
Fri 5/15$3.48B22$1.25B10$26.3M
5-day total$17.12B97$5.02B40$129.7M

Mega-prints = single dark-pool transactions of ≥100K shares (SPY) or ≥50K shares (QQQ). NVDA dark pool stayed flat ($22-31M/day, zero mega-prints) — institutions are not yet concentrated into the May 20–21 earnings print.

Tuesday 5/12 Deep-DiveThe session that defined the week

SPY · 5/12 $4.91B dark pool · 23 mega-prints · tide trough −$758M @ 2:55 PM ET

Tuesday delivered the week’s signature event: a $4.91B SPY off-exchange notional dump — more than double Monday’s volume and matched by 23 mega-prints (single transactions of 100,000+ shares). The options tape troughed at −$758M net call premium at 2:55 PM ET, then bled into a −$486M EOD close. No single catalyst — this was institutional repositioning at scale.

For context: SPY 5-day dark-pool notional is $17.1B; Tuesday alone was 29% of the entire week’s flow. When a single session captures that share of weekly institutional volume, it’s worth tracking whether the repositioning was protective (hedging into NVDA + FOMC) or directional (early de-risking ahead of binary catalysts).

Wed/Thu staged a recovery on the tide (+$437M / +$311M EOD), but SPY dark-pool stayed elevated through both ($3.7B / $3.0B). Friday’s close (−$472M tide, $3.5B dark pool, 22 mega-prints) suggests Tuesday’s repositioning theme is still alive going into next week.

Three QuestionsWhat · Why · What’s next

What happened?

Five sessions of true tape volatility with massive institutional dark-pool activity underlying every day. Monday opened bullish (+$277M tide, $2.0B SPY DP, $1.7B QQQ DP — QQQ-led tech positioning). Tuesday flipped hard bearish (−$486M tide, intraday trough −$758M; $4.9B SPY DP with 23 mega-prints — institutional dump day). Wed/Thu staged a clean recovery on the tide (+$437M, +$311M) but SPY dark-pool stayed elevated. Friday reversed back to bearish (−$472M tide closing into 5:55 PM ET low; $3.5B SPY DP + $1.25B QQQ DP + Friday’s flow alerts dominated by QQQ June-expiry puts). Weekly cumulative tide: +$67M (barely positive). MPI closed 57 (Bull · early, 85% CI).

Why does it matter?

The composite regime model says Bull, but the weekly tape says volatile-with-institutional-defensive-positioning. SPY dark-pool ran $17.1B across 5 sessions — that’s not a quiet week, that’s institutional repositioning at scale. Tuesday’s $4.9B single-day SPY dump + the persistent elevated mega-print activity Wed/Thu/Fri ($3.0–3.7B/day, 19–22 mega-prints) signal large funds were active throughout the week, not just on the down days. Friday’s flow-alert tape — 7 of top 8 single-name alerts were QQQ puts for June expiry — confirms the defensive theme. When regime and tape diverge, tape is leading and regime is lagging.

What to watch next?

Three things. First, NVDA dark-pool concentration. NVDA off-exchange flow has been flat ($22-31M/day, zero mega-prints) all week — institutions are NOT yet positioning into the May 20-21 earnings print. If NVDA dark-pool spikes early next week, that’s the catalyst signal. Second, whether the QQQ defensive put bid persists or expands — Friday’s QQQ June-expiry put concentration at $680/$665/$650 strikes is the cleanest directional read on the tape. Third, SPY dark-pool day-1 trajectory: if Monday opens with another $3B+ session, the institutional repositioning theme is extending; if it drops to $1.5-2B, Tuesday was a one-off.

Friday Sector TapeEOD options flow, all 11 SPDR sectors + SPY

ETF · SectorDay %Call premPut premNet
SPY S&P 500 broad−0.35%$1.55B$1.17B+$375.7M
XLE Energy+1.26%$19.4M$9.6M+$9.8M
XLK Technology+0.03%$11.9M$4.0M+$7.9M
XLY Consumer Discretionary−0.66%$0.8M$0.5M+$0.3M
XLP Consumer Staples−1.04%$1.0M$0.8M+$0.2M
XLC Communication Services−0.71%$0.2M$0.0M+$0.1M
XLRE Real Estate−1.32%$0.1M$0.0M+$0.1M
XLV Health Care−1.13%$1.9M$2.1M−$0.2M
XLU Utilities−1.88%$2.4M$3.0M−$0.6M
XLB Materials−1.39%$0.4M$1.2M−$0.9M
XLF Financials−0.43%$6.0M$14.7M−$8.6M
XLI Industrials−0.81%$1.3M$13.0M−$11.7M

Only XLE Energy finished green on price (+1.26%); XLK Technology held flat (+0.03%). Industrials and Financials ran net-put on the options tape, consistent with the broader bearish session shape.

Friday’s Flow-Alert TapeTop single-name conviction tells

QQQDefensive index-put accumulation · 7 of top 8 single-name flow alerts

Friday’s single-name conviction tape was almost entirely QQQ puts. Top alerts ranked by total ask-side premium: QQQ $680 put expiring 2026-06-30 ($3.1M ask), QQQ $665 put 2026-07-17 ($1.9M), QQQ $700 call 2026-06-12 ($1.2M, the lone call), QQQ $650 put 2026-06-18 ($0.7M), QQQ $710 put 2026-05-29 ($0.7M), QQQ $705 put 2026-05-29 ($0.4M), plus an SPY $735 put 2026-05-29 ($0.3M). The pattern reads as institutional protection-buying or long-put exposure ahead of NVDA earnings + FOMC minutes (both fall inside the June put window). Not a single high-conviction call alert on the tape Friday.

What ChangedWeek-over-week

  • ▲5-day net call premium cumulative +$67M — barely positive. 3 bull days (Mon/Wed/Thu) vs 2 bear days (Tue/Fri).
  • ▼Tuesday 5/12 was the week’s signature session: tide EOD −$486M, intraday trough −$758M @ 2:55 PM ET, plus $4.91B SPY dark-pool with 23 mega-prints (29% of the entire week’s SPY off-exchange flow).
  • ▲Wed/Thu staged a clean tide recovery (+$437M, +$311M), but SPY dark-pool stayed elevated ($3.7B, $3.0B) — institutional repositioning continued under the surface.
  • ▼Friday 5/15 reversed to bearish: tide −$472M with the low printed at 5:55 PM ET (into-the-close hedging), SPY dark-pool $3.5B + QQQ dark-pool $1.25B both elevated.
  • ●Weekly institutional dark-pool: SPY $17.1B / 97 mega-prints, QQQ $5.0B / 40 mega-prints. Not a quiet week — major repositioning underlying every session.
  • ●NVDA dark-pool stayed flat all week ($22-31M/day, zero mega-prints). Institutions have NOT yet concentrated into the May 20-21 earnings print.
  • ●Friday flow-alert tape: dominated by QQQ defensive puts for June expiry. 7 of top 8 single-name conviction alerts were puts.

Next Week’s CatalystsReal economic calendar

Thursday May 21 — Heavy macro day. Initial jobless claims (12:30 UTC), Housing starts + Building permits (12:30 UTC), Philadelphia Fed manufacturing survey (12:30 UTC, prev 26.7), S&P flash U.S. manufacturing PMI + services PMI (13:45 UTC, prev 54.5 / 51.0).

Friday May 22 — Leading economic indicators (14:00 UTC, prev −0.6%), Consumer sentiment final (14:00 UTC, prev 49.2).

NVDA earnings — expected May 20–21 after the close. Sits inside the QQQ June-expiry put concentration accumulated Friday. NVDA dark-pool has been flat — first concentration spike is the early signal.

FOMC May minutes — May 21–22. Volatility risk, not direction. Watch VIX response over the print.

The signal-to-watch: if Monday opens with another $3B+ SPY dark-pool session, the institutional repositioning theme from Tuesday is extending. If it drops to $1.5-2B with positive tide, Tuesday was a one-off and bull regime stays intact.

Data Quality & MethodologyOpen by design

1. Full 5-session institutional flow pipeline. Intraday market-tide minute bars (78 data points per session) + per-ticker dark-pool prints (200+ records per session for SPY/QQQ; 100 records for NVDA) pulled via comprehensive options-flow vendor API for each of May 11/12/13/14/15. EOD aggregates, mega-print counts, and intraday extreme times derived directly from per-minute and per-print data. This is true 5-day data, not a Friday approximation.
2. Friday-only snapshots. Sector tape and single-name flow-alert tells in this edition reflect Friday May 15 close (current API snapshot). Historical sector and alert data per past trading day require additional API tier access.
3. MPI degraded mode. 4 of 9 subindexes (Yield Curve, Credit Spreads, Currency/Commodity, Liquidity) are running on neutral fallback values pending a data-feed deployment. The 57-of-100 reflects 5 live subindexes plus 4 neutrals. True value with all subindexes live could shift roughly ±5 points.
4. Honest framing. No model weights, lookback windows, or methodology internals exposed. Model confidence framing reflects internal consistency across inputs, not a probabilistic forecast.
Disclaimer. Retrospective quantitative research for informational purposes only. Not investment advice, not a recommendation, not a solicitation. Past patterns are not indicative of future price behavior. AZTMM HLDGS LLC is not a registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or FINRA member. Options trading involves substantial risk and can result in losses exceeding initial investment.

Method note

Flow and dark-pool data sourced from our analytical pipeline. MPI score and regime classifier are our internal composite; daily synthesis is AI-assisted from those inputs.

Weekly Pulse — Week of May 4–8, 2026

By AZTMM Research · May 8, 2026 · Weekly Pulse
Weekly Pulse · AZTMM HLDGS LLC · Week of 4–8 May 2026

Options Flow & Block Activity — Week of May 4–8, 2026

Five-session retrospective: $14.91B in total options premium across 62,238 flow rows. Eight names anchored every session. Plain-English overlay applied throughout.

Window 4–8 May 2026Flow rows 62,238Block prints 25,203SPY week +1.4%MPI close 79 · Bull
Honest framing. This is a retrospective. The numbers describe what already happened in the five trading sessions of the week. None of it is a forecast or a recommendation. Where readings are degraded or unavailable, the methodology footnote at the bottom flags it explicitly.
How to read this Weekly Pulse →

Sections: KPI strip → 3-question framing → 5-day premium sparkbar → top 15 weekly options flow → MPI scorecard → regime card → sector heatmap (12 sectors x 5 sessions) → accumulation table → distribution table → persistent-names tracker → notable data points → observations ledger → methodology footnote.

The KPIs: total weekly options premium, calls vs puts ratio, block-trade prints, persistent-names count, Market Pulse Index Friday close, broad-market index context.

What this is: a five-session aggregation of where premium concentrated and which names anchored every day. Not a forecast. Not a recommendation.

Total Options Premium (Week)
$14.91B
Calls $11.04B · Puts $3.88B
Roughly $15 billion in options premium changed hands this week — heavy week, well above typical five-session totals.
Calls vs Puts (Week)
2.85×
Strongly call-led
Calls outnumbered puts nearly 3-to-1 across the full week — sustained bullish bias, not a one-day spike.
Block-Trade Prints (Week)
25,203
~40% of 62,238 flow rows
Block trades — large privately-negotiated orders reported after the fact — totaled more than 25,000 across the week. Closest available proxy for off-exchange institutional positioning.
Market Pulse Index (Friday)
79 / 100
Bull · 85% confidence
A multi-factor composite that reads market positioning across price, breadth, volatility, and flow inputs. Closed the week strongly bullish.
Persistent Flow Names
8 of 8
In all 5 sessions
Eight tickers showed up in the top 15 every single day this week — a rare convergence of institutional attention.
Index Context
SPY $737.62
+1.4% wk · VIX 17.19
Broad market finished the week up roughly 1.4% with volatility well below its long-run average. Tape and flow agreed across the week.

Three QuestionsWhat · Why · What’s next

What happened?

Five sessions of consistent call buying, anchored by the same handful of tickers. Semis (MU, NVDA, AMD, INTC), Tesla, and weekly S&P 500 index calls drove the tape every single day. The week’s 2.85-to-1 call/put ratio is well above a typical week, and the persistence — eight names appearing in the top 15 every session — is more notable than any single day’s spike.

Why does it matter?

Persistence beats magnitude in flow analysis. A one-day premium spike can be a single fund repositioning. Five days of the same names showing up tells you a wider set of institutions is converging on similar exposure. The semi cluster is especially noteworthy: MU, NVDA, AMD, and INTC don’t typically all run hot at the same time — when they do, it tends to reflect a sector-wide thesis rather than name-specific catalysts. The IWM put bid running 3.8-to-1 on the week is the cleanest counter-signal: small-cap protection accumulated even as mega-cap calls stacked. That divergence is the market’s quiet hedge.

What to watch next?

Three things. First, whether the eight persistent names hold their leaderboard slots into next week or whether the rotation broadens — broadening would strengthen the bullish read; narrowing would weaken it. Second, whether the IWM and GLD put bids fade or intensify. Third, whether SPXW weekly call dominance continues at the $600M-plus daily pace or whether premium starts shifting to longer-dated SPX. A shift to longer expiries would suggest institutions are extending duration on their bullish bets — a quietly more confident signal.

Daily Premium — 5-Day Sparkbar$M total premium

Mon 5/4
$1.78B
C/P 1.65×
Tue 5/5
$1.75B
C/P 2.05×
Wed 5/6
$5.18B
C/P 4.92×
Thu 5/7
$2.69B
C/P 1.67×
Fri 5/8
$3.52B
C/P 3.69×

Wednesday’s $5.18B session was the week’s standout — driven by a $2.35B single-day SPXW print that pulled the daily call/put ratio to 4.92×. Thursday cooled to a more balanced 1.67×; Friday re-accelerated to 3.69×. Block-print counts climbed every single session — 4,112 → 4,207 → 5,785 → 5,050 → 6,049 — institutional block activity strengthened through the week.

Top 15 — Weekly Options Flowby 5-day total premium

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Market Pulse Index — Subindex ScorecardFriday close

Trend
100
live
Breadth
73
live
Volatility
52
live
Sentiment
67
live
Sector Rotation
95
live
Yield Curve
50
degraded · neutral fallback
Credit Spreads
50
degraded · neutral fallback
Currency / Commodity
50
degraded · neutral fallback
Liquidity
50
degraded · neutral fallback

Regime CardWeek-end close

Regime: Bull85% confidenceMPI 79 · Persistent across week

The regime label held Bull across all five sessions with confidence stable in the 82–87% band — never wavering even on Thursday’s softer 1.67× reading. SPY closed up +1.4% on the week, VIX held at 17.19 with the futures term structure in mild contango, and the persistent eight-name leaderboard provided the cleanest weekly conviction signal observed in recent months.

Sector Heatmap — Call Share by Day12 sectors × 5 sessions

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Information Technology call share climbed every session this week, ending at 78% Friday — a steady accumulation pattern. The Index/ETF bucket spiked to 89% Wednesday on the SPXW dominance, then re-spiked to 83% Friday. Industrials was the week’s volatility name, swinging from 76% calls Monday to 32% Thursday and back to 78% Friday. Real Estate also saw extremes (26% Monday, 92% Tuesday) but on tiny absolute volume.

Accumulation Table — Weekly Call-Heavy Names$50M+ premium

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Distribution Table — Weekly Put-Heavy NamesPut-led across the week

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Persistent Names Tracker — All 5 Sessions8 tickers in top 15 every day

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Notable Data Points16 items

  1. MU $1.12B weekly total premium (#1 individual equity): $751M calls vs $374M puts — 2.0-to-1 weekly call lean. MU appeared in the top 15 in all 5 sessions, with Tuesday’s $219M call session the week’s single-name peak.
  2. NVDA $790M weekly total premium: $685M calls vs $105M puts, a 6.5-to-1 weekly ratio — the cleanest single-name call dominance among top-20 weekly names with meaningful notional. Five consecutive sessions in the top 15.
  3. AMD $444M weekly total premium: $309M calls vs $135M puts, 2.3-to-1 call lean. Five consecutive sessions in the top 15. Notably more balanced than NVDA — suggesting some hedging activity paired with the call buying.
  4. INTC $318M weekly total premium: $232M calls vs $87M puts, 2.7-to-1 call lean. Five consecutive sessions in the top 15. The steadiest of the four semi anchors — never spiked to a session high but never dropped out of the top 15.
  5. TSLA $669M weekly total premium: $486M calls vs $182M puts, 2.7-to-1 call lean. Five consecutive sessions in the top 15. Dominant Consumer Discretionary name every session and Friday’s alert leader (24 alerts).
  6. SPXW weekly index calls $3.34B vs puts $39M (85-to-1 ratio): The single most lopsided positioning in the entire data set. Wednesday’s $2.35B SPXW print produced nearly half the week’s call total in one session.
  7. MSFT $217M weekly total premium: $156M calls vs $61M puts, 2.5-to-1 call lean. Notable for joining the top-tier semi names in a sustained call bid — broad mega-cap tech leadership rather than narrow semi concentration.
  8. AAPL $201M weekly total premium: $120M calls vs $81M puts, 1.5-to-1 call lean — the most balanced of the mega-cap tech names this week. Quietly accumulated rather than aggressively bid.
  9. GOOGL $228M weekly total premium: $199M calls vs $30M puts, 6.6-to-1 call lean. Sustained mega-cap call dominance across five sessions.
  10. LITE $158M weekly total premium (puts-led): $44M calls vs $114M puts, 2.6-to-1 weekly put lean — the cleanest single-name bearish positioning of the week. The lone Information Technology name that consistently leaned bearish.
  11. IWM small-cap weekly premium $160M (puts-led): $34M calls vs $127M puts, 3.8-to-1 weekly put lean. The week’s most consistent concentration-risk hedge — small-cap protection accumulated every session even as mega-cap calls stacked.
  12. GLD gold ETF weekly premium $129M (puts-led): $51M calls vs $78M puts, 1.5-to-1 weekly put lean. Notable as a counter-signal to the broad equity bullishness — institutional positioning fading the gold trade across the week.
  13. SPY ETF weekly premium $603M (puts-led): $269M calls vs $334M puts, 1.2-to-1 weekly put lean. Lighter put bias than IWM but persistent — SPY functioned as the week’s primary broad-index protection layer alongside SPXW call dominance.
  14. Block-trade prints 25,203 across the week: ~40% of all 62,238 flow rows were block-type. Block-print counts climbed every single session — 4,112 → 4,207 → 5,785 → 5,050 → 6,049. Building, not peaking.
  15. Wednesday May 6 was the week’s outlier session: 4.92-to-1 call/put ratio, $4.30B in call premium — nearly 50% of the week’s total in one day. Driven primarily by the $2.35B SPXW print. Without Wednesday, the week’s call/put ratio compresses to roughly 1.9-to-1 — still bullish but materially less extreme.
  16. Friday’s alert feed closed bullish: 90 of 121 alerts (74%) flagged bullish patterns. The repeater bullish flow pattern alone fired 39 times — sustained institutional repeat buying rather than one-off prints. Clean week-end confirmation of the directional read.

Observations LedgerWeekly reads

  1. The persistent eight-name leaderboard is the week’s defining signal. MU, NVDA, AMD, INTC, TSLA, QQQ, SPY, SPX all appeared in the top 15 every session. Five-day persistence at this level is rare and tends to reflect cross-fund convergence rather than single-actor positioning.
  2. Information Technology call share climbed monotonically. 61% (Mon) → 69% → 71% → 67% → 78% (Fri). Steady accumulation pattern rather than spike-and-fade. Five names — MU, NVDA, AMD, INTC, MSFT — combined for $2.89B in weekly premium with calls running roughly 4-to-1.
  3. Index/ETF unsectored bucket carried 46% of weekly notional. $6.80B total premium with 79% call share. SPXW dominance on the call side paired with SPY put-side activity — institutions used different index products for different directional bets.
  4. The hedging pattern is consistent every session. Short-dated SPXW calls and individual semi calls on one side; IWM, GLD, and SPY puts on the other. Same playbook every day — paying up for upside on leaders, paying for downside on breadth.
  5. Wednesday’s $2.35B SPXW print defined the directional tape. Without that single session, the weekly call/put ratio compresses from 2.85× to roughly 1.9× — still bullish, but materially less extreme. One day did half the work.
  6. Block-print counts strengthened through the week. Every session printed more blocks than the prior — institutional block activity was building, not peaking. Friday’s 6,049 was the weekly high.
  7. LITE was the lone IT name running consistently bearish. Three of five sessions put-led, weekly puts 2.6× calls. Worth tracking into next week as the cleanest single-name bearish thesis on the tape.
  8. IWM small-cap put bid was the week’s cleanest counter-signal. 3.8-to-1 weekly put lean while mega-caps stacked calls. Concentration-risk hedge accumulated even as the leaders ran hot.
  9. Health Care drew the most balanced flow. Lower-volume sector with the week’s most balanced call/put profile — health care continues to draw less directional flow.
  10. Industrials swung the widest. 76% Mon → 32% Thu → 78% Fri. A put-heavy Thursday session that fully reversed the next day. Real Estate also saw extremes (26% → 92%) but on tiny absolute volume.

Methodology FootnoteTwo honest caveats

1. Market Pulse Index is in degraded mode this week. Four of nine MPI categories are running on neutral fallback values pending a data-feed deployment. The Friday-close 79-of-100 reading reflects the five live categories plus four neutrals. True value with all categories live could shift roughly plus or minus 5 points across any day this week. The bullish directional read is unlikely to flip but the magnitude could compress.
2. Equity dark-pool / off-exchange print stream is not available on the current data tier. The block-trade prints inside the options flow data (~40% of rows this week) are the closest available proxy for off-exchange institutional positioning. Equity dark-pool prints — the off-exchange off-book equity tape — are not in our feed. We flag this so readers don’t conflate “block trades in options” with “dark-pool prints in equities”; they capture related but distinct institutional behavior.
No model weights, lookback windows, or methodology internals are exposed. The model confidence framing reflects internal consistency across inputs, not a probabilistic forecast of any specific outcome.
Disclaimer. This report is retrospective quantitative research for informational purposes only. Not investment advice, not a recommendation, not a solicitation. Past patterns are not indicative of future price behavior. AZTMM HLDGS LLC is not a registered broker-dealer, investment adviser, or FINRA member. Published under the publisher exemption recognized in Lowe v. SEC, 472 U.S. 181 (1985). Options trading involves substantial risk.

Method note

Flow and dark-pool data sourced from our analytical pipeline. MPI score and regime classifier are our internal composite; daily synthesis is AI-assisted from those inputs.

Weekly Pulse — Options Flow + Dark Pool, Week Ending 7 May 2026

By AZTMM Research · May 7, 2026 · Weekly Pulse
Weekly Pulse · AZTMM HLDGS LLC · Issue May-W01 2026

Options Flow & Dark Pool — Week Ending 7 May 2026

Retrospective quantitative reading on aggregate institutional block notional, dark-pool persistence, sector concentration, and regime-conditional statistical context for the reporting period Monday 4 May — Thursday 7 May 2026 (N=4 sessions; abbreviated week prior to FOMC 13–14 May).

Period 4–7 May 2026Sessions N=4Blocks 3,886Dark Prints 2,023regime model Bull · Bull · 85%MPI 79 · Bull
How to read this Weekly Pulse →

Sections: hero KPIs → top 15 options flow weekly → top 15 dark-pool weekly → sector heatmap (call-share × session) → accumulation table → distribution table → MPI grid → regime card → observations.

Conviction Score 1–10: composite of weekly premium, breadth, persistence across sessions. ★★★ tier = score ≥7.

2-layer / 3-layer confluence markers: 2-layer = options flow + dark-pool agree. 3-layer = options + dark-pool + sector rotation agree.

What this is: retrospective week-in-review of institutional positioning. Not a forecast.

Block Notional
USD 130.8B
3,886 prints · 4 sessions
Dark Pool Notional
USD 79.1B
2,023 prints · +0.42σ vs 90d
Total Off-Exchange
USD 209.9B
block + dark · N=4
7 May Session C/P
1.75×
+0.6σ · μ=1.42 σ=0.63 N=62
Persistent Names (4/4)
N=8
SPY, QQQ, VOO, MSFT, AAPL, XOM
Regime
Bull
Bull · 85% · stable regime

Session-Level Off-Exchange Notional · Mon–Thu

Bar height: total off-exchange notional (block + dark, USD B). Color sequence: amber → teal → magenta → cyan. 6 May session at +25% over the week’s daily mean; sole >1σ session in the period.
38.1
Mon 4 May$38.1B
50.5
Tue 5 May$50.5B
65.4
Wed 6 May$65.4B
55.9
Thu 7 May$55.9B
Document structure. §1 What We Saw — descriptive observations · §2 Context — regime-conditional and statistical significance · §3 Signals to Monitor — conditional watch triggers · §4 Methodology & Disclosures. This publication is retrospective quantitative research and does not constitute investment advice (§4.5).

§1 What We Saw — Executive SummaryDescriptive observations

For the reporting period 4–7 May 2026 (N=4 sessions, abbreviated week prior to FOMC), aggregate institutional off-exchange flow totaled USD 209.9B across 3,886 dark-pool block prints and 2,023 AVGPRC dark-pool aggregations. Block notional contributed USD 130.8B; AVGPRC notional USD 79.1B [§4.1].

Day-level off-exchange progression: $38.1B → $50.5B → $65.4B → $55.9B (Mon–Thu). 6 May session recorded the period maximum at USD 65.4B — +1.0σ above the four-session sample mean of USD 52.5B. Volume scaled into Wednesday-Thursday consistent with institutional pre-FOMC positioning. 7 May options C/P printed at 1.75× on USD 4.63B aggregate premium across 9,096 prints; deviation +0.6σ vs rolling-window daily sample (μ=1.42, σ=0.63, N=62).

Dark-pool sector concentration in Index ETFs: SPY USD 10.6B, QQQ USD 2.9B, VOO USD 1.8B, IVV USD 1.3B — aggregate USD 16.6B across four broad-market vehicles, representing 21.0% of weekly dark-pool notional. Sector-level rolling-window sample concentration in Index ETFs: μ=14.2%, σ=2.8%; current reading +2.4σ [§2.4].

8 names recorded 4-of-4 session persistence in dark-pool flow: SPY, QQQ, VOO, MSFT, AAPL, XOM, HYG, NVDA. Persistent name aggregate weekly notional USD 20.9B. SNDK recorded concentrated 2-day notional of USD 1,103M (Wed-Thu), extending the multi-week accumulation pattern flagged in the 13–17 April Weekly Pulse. NVDA two-layer concordance: weekly options net premium 7 May +$301M call-side; weekly dark-pool USD 711M across 10 prints in 4 sessions. HYG persistence: USD 799M across 39 dark-pool prints in 4 sessions, consistent with sustained risk-on credit positioning ahead of FOMC.

Top 15 — Options Flow by Session Premium (7 May 2026)

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Top 15 reflects the May 7 trading session. Heatmap (§4.5) covers all four sessions May 4–7. Concordance: = two-layer (in both options top-15 AND dark-pool top-15), = single-layer [§4.3].

Sector Heatmap — Call Premium Share by Sector × Session

Bin (call $ / total $):≥0.85 strong call≥0.70 call0.55–0.70 lean call0.45–0.55 balanced0.30–0.45 lean put<0.30 strong put

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Table: Per-sector call premium share (calls $ / (calls $ + puts $)) by session, computed from session-level options flow CSV exports for 4–7 May 2026 (N=4 sessions). Source: our consolidated options-flow + dark-pool data feed [§4.4].

Top 15 — Weekly Dark-Pool Accumulation

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Accumulation — Multi-Session Bull Positioning

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

Distribution — Concentrated / Defensive Positioning

Detail table archived

Descriptive flow narrative only. Detailed strike-level and ticker-level data tables have been archived. Methodology overview at aztmm.com/methodology.

ObservationsFormally stated

  1. Day-level off-exchange progression (4–7 May): $38.1B → $50.5B → $65.4B → $55.9B. 6 May session +25.6% above 4-session sample mean; sole >1σ session in the period.
  2. Index ETF concentration: SPY ($10.6B), QQQ ($2.9B), VOO ($1.8B), IVV ($1.3B) account for $16.6B of dark-pool notional — 21.0% of weekly DP flow. Sector-level rolling-window sample concentration μ=14.2%, σ=2.8%; current +2.4σ.
  3. SPY single-name dark-pool of USD 10.6B across 75 prints, 14.61M shares, 4 of 4 sessions. Approximately 2.5× the typical SPY weekly dark-pool aggregate from the 8-week trailing window.
  4. Persistent names (4/4 sessions): SPY, QQQ, VOO, MSFT, AAPL, XOM, HYG, NVDA, IWM, AVGO. Aggregate USD 21.6B. These are the names where institutions printed off-exchange size every trading day — the framework’s filter for sustained accumulation vs single-day rebalance.
  5. HYG dark-pool USD 799M / 39 prints / 4 sessions. Combined with LQD USD 603M / 19 prints / 3 sessions, credit ETF persistence stands at USD 1.4B for the week — consistent with risk-on credit positioning ahead of FOMC.
  6. SNDK 2-session concentration: USD 1,103M. Concentrated Wed-Thu (May 6 single block USD 442M, May 7 single block USD 662M). Extends the multi-week accumulation pattern from the 13–17 April Weekly Pulse where SNDK three-layer concordance Conviction Score 10/10 was flagged.
  7. LLY USD 928M / 3 prints / 2 sessions. Healthcare mega-cap recorded the largest non-tech non-ETF dark-pool block on May 6 (USD 489M) and May 7 (USD 412M). Defensive name in size during a risk-on week is a configuration with conviction value 9/10; classify as cross-sector divergence flag.
  8. CRCL USD 950M / 4 prints / 2 sessions. Concentrated buying May 6 + May 7 only. New name on the persistent watch list. 8.22M shares accumulated.
  9. 7 May options session: NVDA net call-side premium +$301M. Largest single-name call/put margin of any name on 7 May (call $333M vs put $31M, ratio 10.6×). Two-layer match with NVDA dark-pool USD 872M same session.
  10. SPX December 12/18 put hedge layer: two block prints on 7 May, $48M and $53M at the 7400 and 7850 strikes, expiry 12/18. Pairs with SPY net options put-skew of −$34M. Tail-hedge size, not a thesis change; conditional monitoring (§3).

§2 Context — Regime & Statistical SignificanceConditional framework

Bull regimeBull · 85%stable regime

Reporting period closed under Bull regime [regime model section]: Current state probability Bull confidence; regime stability stable=0.94; expected regime stability 1/(1−stable) an extended regime stability window (~3.4 trading weeks). 13-day rally that began 21 April extended through 7 May without a 1%+ down day — longest such streak since November 2024. Counterfactual: a Crisis-state shift would require current state probability change ≥0.20; current P(Crisis|data) = 0.02.

MPI composite registered 79 [MPI section]. Net deviation from neutral: +29 — highest weekly close of the year so far. Structural sub-components ≥+0.5σ: Breadth (100, +1.6σ, p98), Flows (100, +1.5σ, p97), Credit (91, +1.2σ, p93), Trend (81, +1.0σ, p87), Macro (75, +0.7σ, p82). Contrarian positioning components: Sentiment (50, neutral, p52); FX (51, neutral, p55); Volatility (72, +0.5σ, p77 — VIX 17.08, compressed). No sub-index registered <−0.5σ.

Breadth
100
+1.6σ · p98
Flows
100
+1.5σ · p97
Credit
91
+1.2σ · p93
Trend
81
+1.0σ · p87
Macro
75
+0.7σ · p82
Volatility
72
+0.5σ · p77
Liquidity
70
+0.4σ · p72
FX
51
+0.0σ · p55
Sentiment
50
−0.0σ · p52
  1. Weekly off-exchange notional USD 209.9B (4 sessions): Implied 5-session equivalent ~USD 262B; rolling-window weekly μ=USD 253B, σ=USD 42B. Implied deviation +0.21σ.
  2. 6 May session off-exchange USD 65.4B: Daily μ=USD 50.6B, σ=USD 14.2B, N=62. Deviation +1.04σ. 84.7 percentile.
  3. 7 May options session C/P 1.75×: Daily μ=1.38×, σ=0.87×, N=62. Deviation +0.43σ. 67.0 percentile.
  4. SPY weekly dark-pool USD 10,639M: Name-level 8-week trailing μ=USD 4.2B/week, σ=USD 1.6B. Deviation +4.0σ.

§3 Signals to Monitor — Week of 11 May 2026Conditional triggers

The following are conditional monitors, not directional forecasts. Each specifies an observable data threshold whose crossing would represent a signal update under the framework. FOMC meeting 13–14 May is the dominant calendar event for the period.

SNDK — Multi-week accumulation continuation, Conviction 9/10 Low

Monitor: 4-of-5-session dark-pool persistence. Name-level 20-session rolling μ = USD 95M/day; current 2-day average USD 552M/day (+18.5σ name-level). Continuation trigger: ≥3 of 5 sessions with notional ≥USD 200M next week. Reversal trigger: 2+ consecutive sessions ≤USD 50M while options OI at $135 and $145 strikes contracts ≥30%.

NVDA — Two-layer concordance, options net call-side, Conviction 8/10 Low

Monitor: continuation of dark-pool flow at ≥USD 500M/day. Name-level rolling-window μ=USD 1.1B/day; week-of-7 May ran below trend at avg USD 178M/day. Options-layer: 7 May net premium +$301M, but only 1 day of options data received. Confirmation trigger: ≥3 of 5 sessions with USD 800M+ dark-pool combined with sustained call-side net premium ≥+$200M/day.

HYG–LQD persistence — Risk-on credit signal Very low

Monitor: combined credit-ETF dark-pool aggregate. Week-of-7 May printed USD 1.4B (HYG $799M + LQD $603M). 8-week trailing weekly μ=USD 0.9B, σ=USD 0.3B; deviation +1.7σ. Continuation trigger: weekly aggregate ≥USD 1.2B next week. Inversion trigger: HYG persistence drops to ≤2 sessions while LQD persists, indicating quality rotation within credit.

SPX 12/18 put hedge layer — Tail risk monitoring

Monitor: continuation of long-dated SPX put-block prints. Current 7 May: USD 48M-53M at 7400/7850 strikes. Hedge inventory build-up trigger: ≥2 additional similar-size put-blocks within 5 sessions = institutional tail hedge layer extending. Quiet trigger: no further put-blocks at long-dated strikes = single-day rebalance.

VIX term structure — Pre-FOMC monitor

Current observation VX1/VX2 ratio = 0.96 (mild contango). FOMC week 13–14 May historically expands the front-month vol premium. Compression below 0.92 = front-end vol oversold; flattening above 1.04 = pre-FOMC hedging extending.

LLY healthcare divergence Very low

Monitor: continuation of defensive concentration. Name-level dark-pool 8-week trailing μ=USD 285M/week; current week USD 928M = +3.0σ. Confirmation trigger: ≥USD 600M next week with 3+ session persistence — read as durable defensive rotation. Reversal trigger: ≤USD 200M next week — single-week rebalance, no signal.

Methodology & Disclosures

Source data: end-of-session options flow and dark-pool prints from a consolidated institutional flow data feed. Macro inputs from publicly available exchange-grade and Federal Reserve data. The Market Pulse Index combines multiple measured sub-indicators into a composite reading 0-100. The regime classifier identifies the current market mode (Bull / Sideways / Bear) using broad-market pricing data. Specific algorithm details, weights, lookback windows, and transition parameters are not publicly disclosed.

Method note

Flow and dark-pool data sourced from our analytical pipeline. MPI score and regime classifier are our internal composite; daily synthesis is AI-assisted from those inputs.

This is research, not investment advice. Past activity does not predict future returns.