Daily Flow Deep Dive - August 17, 2026
Market Pulse
SPY closed at 772.67, down 0.47% and holding above the 8 EMA at 771.36. That marks 12 straight closes above the 21 EMA. The stack stays clean with the 21 above the 50 and the 200 way down at 703.21. Minor red day but structure is intact.
QQQ finished at 729.87, off just 0.16% and riding well above the 8 EMA at 723.45. This is the 11th consecutive close above the 21 EMA at 714.15. The 50 SMA sits at 712.58, tucked right under the 21 with the 200 far below at 650.02. Trend remains firmly up.
VIX 15.19 (+6.60%)
Opening
Bullish premium led at $397.1M against $245.7M bearish for a net $151.3M bull lean. SNDK topped the tape at $67.2M with WFC and GE next. Heaviest bearish print was SMH at $46.1M.
Options Flow Heat Map
Dark Pool Heat Map
Dark Pool Side Accuracy
The prints shown here represent filtered institutional block activity from the raw SIP tape. Extended-hours clearing prints, broker-matched crosses, and post-close settlement noise are removed before scoring. Side direction is classified using execution price relative to the live bid/ask at each print — the AGG% score shows how decisively price crossed the spread: 100% swept the ask, 0% hit the bid.
Prints marked ◆ carry the highest conviction. A corresponding options hedge was detected on the same name within 30 seconds, independently confirming both the block and its direction via Black-Scholes delta matching. Where the options tape and dark pool agree on the same name simultaneously, the signal is institutional across both markets.
For unconfirmed prints, side is a strong inference. Confidence is highest in liquid, tight-spread names. In wide markets or lower-ADV names, treat direction as context rather than conviction until corroborated by the options tape or the technical picture.
