What makes a trade a "whale"
- Premium: total paid is $500K+ (some traders use $1M).
- Volume above open interest: it opens a new position rather than closing one.
- Aggressive fill: paid at or near the ask, often as a sweep across exchanges.
- Short-dated or out-of-the-money: a sign of conviction on timing.
Bet or hedge? How to tell
- A lone put on SPY or QQQ is often portfolio insurance, not a bearish call.
- Look for the same strike or expiry bought repeatedly through the day.
- Check for a matching trade on the other side (a spread or a roll).
- Compare against the earnings date — positioning a week before is more telling.
How Jon and Pete use it
Jon and Pete Najarian have tracked unusual options activity for decades. Their rule of thumb: follow trades that are big relative to normal volume in that name, short-dated, and bought at the ask — then size small, because the whale may know something or may just be hedging.