Options Open Interest Analysis

Open Interest rises when new contracts open (both buyer and seller are new) and falls when contracts close: so it doesn't measure how often a strike trades, but how much exposure remains outstanding. That's why it complements volume — volume tells you where the fight happened today, Open Interest where there's still an open position.

The useful read is not the total but the distribution by strike and expiry. A large call accumulation at a strike means a lot of long-call exposure rests there: as price approaches, the market makers who sold those calls must hedge, and that flow can slow or repel the move. The same, mirrored, applies to large put accumulations.

Comparing Open Interest across expiries shows where the market positioned short term (0DTE, weekly) versus medium-long (monthly and beyond), helping separate levels that matter for the session from those that structure the trend.

Most tools show Open Interest only on the major indices or a narrow subset. Gaudio OTT expands it to every index, ETF and stock with options and to futures such as ES and NQ, by strike and by expiry, and always pairs it with intraday volume: so you see not only where there's position, but also where new flow is forming.

On futures such as ES and NQ, Open Interest covers the strikes near the price, about ±3% on ES, and the page always states the covered band: you know how far the data reaches, and never mistake a gap for an empty level.