Chapter 3
HELIX
Institutional options flow tape — sweeps, blocks, and unusual prints filtered for size and conviction.
Overview
HELIX surfaces the options flow that matters: large premium, aggressive sweeps, and prints that suggest institutional positioning rather than routine hedging.
The page stacks context layers before the tape: tide bar for session lean, anomaly banner for regime events, AI brief for narrative, then filters and the main alert stream with an analytics column.
Run HELIX alongside SPX Slayer — it is a confirmation layer, not a standalone signal generator. Flow bias on the Slayer desk is a compressed view of what you see here in raw form.
Desk layout
Route: `/flows`. Below the page header you get HelixTideBar, then FlowAnomalyBanner, then the FlowFeed desk — filter bar, watchlist, main tape (left 8 cols), analytics column (right 4 cols).
TickerDrawer opens as a right overlay when you click any alert or analytics row — it is drill-down, not a permanent panel.
Keep HELIX on a second monitor or split screen with Slayer during active plays. The tape moves continuously via SSE when connected.
Panel reference
Every region below maps to a live UI panel on the desk. Read purpose first, then cadence, then how to consume — that order mirrors how you should scan the tool during RTH.
HelixTideBar
Header rail — below page title
Compact SPX market-tide indicator: institutional call vs put premium lean for the session.
What it shows
- BULLISH / BEARISH / NEUTRAL pill
- Call vs put premium split bar with dollar amounts
- Tide label
How to consume
Glance once per few minutes for session direction. Tide disagreements with Slayer flow bias are worth investigating in the tape — someone is leaning differently at the aggregate level.
TipSelf-hides when desk data is unavailable — if missing, check session hours and entitlements first.
FlowAnomalyBanner
Full-width strip above FlowFeed
Surfaces recent flow anomalies from market-regime detection — unusual clustering or severity events.
What it shows
- Every anomaly detected in the last 15 minutes (no display cap)
- Severity badge, ticker, direction, detail text
- Critical items pulse visually
What you can do
- Dismiss (session-local — returns if new anomalies arrive)
How to consume
When this banner appears, pause and read before filtering the tape. Anomalies often precede vol expansion or sector rotation. Dismiss only after you have noted the tickers — it is a push notification for the desk.
FlowBrief
Top of FlowFeed — first panel
AI narrative summary of current session flow themes.
What it shows
- RTH: AI brief · Live with server-generated text and as-of time (ET)
- After hours: static rotating copy with After hours badge
How to consume
Read at session open and after lunch lull. The brief orients you before scrolling hundreds of prints. After close, do not expect live updates — preserved last RTH brief may still display.
Filter bar & WatchlistBar
Between FlowBrief and main grid
Control what appears in the tape: premium floor, type, ticker, replay, audio, export, and starred tickers.
What it shows
- MIN premium: $200K / $500K / $1M / $20M+
- Type: ALL / CALL / PUT with live counts
- Ticker text filter (max 6 chars)
- Replay controls with 0.5× / 1× / 2× speed
- Whale audio toggle (>$1M)
- Watchlist-only star filter
- CSV export of current displayAlerts
- Alert count, newest age, Live / Stale / Offline dot
What you can do
- Set premium floor and type filter
- Filter by ticker or watchlist stars
- Toggle replay mode for historical tape review
- Export CSV for journaling
- Star/unstar tickers in WatchlistBar chips
How to consume
Start at $500K or $1M during busy sessions — $200K is the ingest floor but noisy at open. Use CALL/PUT filter when testing a directional thesis. Watchlist-only mode turns HELIX into a personal radar. Stale/offline dot means fall back to 30s REST poll — treat tape as degraded.
TipPressing star on a ticker both saves it and enables quick filter-from-watchlist workflow.
FlowAlertStream
Main grid — left column (8/12 on lg+)
Primary live options flow tape — the HELIX panel proper.
What it shows
- Per card: ticker, CALL/PUT, rule badges (SWEEP/FLOOR/BLOCK/etc.), WHALE, 0DTE
- Premium, age, strike/expiry/DTE, ask%, score, direction
- Context badges: STACKING, SPLIT, HAWK, VELOCITY, COORD, GEX proximity (FLIP/CALL WALL/PUT WALL), earnings
- OTM%, open interest, IV
- ↑ N new scroll prompt when scrolled down; Load more cap at 150 cards
What you can do
- Click card → open TickerDrawer
- Star/unstar ticker from card
- Scroll to catch up on backlog
How to consume
Scan top-down for recency — age column tells you if you are late. WHALE and SWEEP together imply urgency. GEX proximity badges tie prints to Slayer structure — a sweep into call wall is structurally different from random OTM lotto. STACKING and COORD suggest repeated institutional activity; use TickerDrawer to confirm. Do not chase every print — context at walls and flip matters.
TipUNKNOWN option_type rows are dropped server-side — if a name disappears, it failed type validation.
Analytics column
Main grid — right column (4/12)
Derived analytics from the in-memory tape plus supplemental dark pool and Night Hawk data.
What it shows
- Always: Net Premium leaderboard (top 6 tickers), Strike Stacks, Dark Pool panel
- Expanded: Velocity Radar, Night Hawk Flow, Split Flow Radar, Sector Flow, Cumulative Net Premium chart
What you can do
- More panels / Fewer panels toggle
- Click stack or radar row → TickerDrawer
How to consume
Net Premium answers who is winning call vs put today. Strike Stacks surface repeat activity at the same strike — often more informative than one-off sweeps. Expand panels when researching rotation (Sector Flow) or conflicting legs (Split Flow Radar). Velocity Radar highlights acceleration — prints in the last 15m vs prior 15m.
TipNight Hawk Flow panel links evening playbook plays to live conviction — useful at the open.
TickerDrawer
Right-side overlay — opens on demand
Per-ticker drill-down: recent flow, premium split, and dark pool prints.
What it shows
- Ticker header with call% bias pill
- Call/put premium summary bar
- Up to 40 flow rows respecting parent type filter
- Dark pool prints for the ticker
What you can do
- Close drawer
- Star/unstar ticker
How to consume
Open when a card or analytics row catches your eye. Read premium split before direction — heavy call premium with bearish price action may mean hedging, not bullishness. Refresh by closing and re-opening if you need a later snapshot.
How it works
Flow is ingested continuously during RTH and scored for unusual characteristics relative to open interest and historical volume. SSE delivers prints in real time; REST backfills when the stream drops.
Whale filtering
Premium and size thresholds elevate prints that move dealer risk.
Directional bias
Aggregated call vs put premium hints at institutional lean — fed into Slayer gates.
GEX proximity tagging
Prints near flip or walls get contextual badges tied to the same GEX engine as Slayer.
Anomaly layer
Regime detector writes anomalies consumed by the banner — separate from raw tape ingest.
Step-by-step workflow
Dock beside SPX Slayer during RTH.
- 1
Orient with tide + brief
Read HelixTideBar and FlowBrief before touching filters.
- 2
Set premium floor
Raise minimum premium in fast markets to reduce noise.
- 3
Watch at walls
Filter SPX or watch Slayer levels while scanning GEX proximity badges.
- 4
Drill down
Open TickerDrawer on STACKING or WHALE prints that align with your thesis.
- 5
Challenge your thesis
Counter-flow from institutions is a valid early exit signal on Slayer plays.
Best practices
Do
- Treat sweeps as urgency signals.
- Correlate flow direction with gamma regime above/below flip.
- Use analytics column for rotation and stacking — not just the raw tape.
- Export CSV for post-session review.
Don't
- Don't chase every print — context at structure matters.
- Don't ignore SPX Slayer SCANNING while flow runs hot.
- Don't assume call premium always means bullish intent.
- Don't trust stale tape — check Live/Stale/Offline dot.
Connected tools
BlackOut is one pipeline. These desks share the same GEX, flow, and intelligence layers.
FAQ
Is HELIX real-time?
Yes during RTH via SSE when connected. REST fallback polls every 30s if the stream drops.
Why $200K minimum if I can filter higher?
$200K is the server ingest floor; UI filters let you raise the display threshold.
What is replay mode?
Historical tape playback at 0.5×–2× speed for review — not live trading.
Open HELIX
Launch the live HELIX desk and apply this chapter in real time.