What is OptionHacker?

OptionHacker is a scanner for individuals and self-directed investors designed to provide institutional-calibre information on option order flow.


Why does OptionHacker benefit traders and investors?

Because there are no dark pools (off-exchange liquidity) for options markets, option order flow offers valuable information as to where institutions (hedge funds, mutual funds, and banks) are allocating their assets.


These institutions have access to resources and information individuals do not, so OptionHacker takes this ‘edge’ and transfers it to retail customers.


I changed my password, and now my login redirects back to the Member's area instead of the scanner.

If you changed your password since purchase please open a support ticket, and we will forward the change to our provider. This process otherwise automatically occurs at midnight EST.


I'm getting kicked out of my scanner session [invalid session], why?

Users with multiple OptionHacker products (OptionHacker, DayTrade Scanner, 48 Hour Spike Scanner) must launch all of the scanners from the same browser window. The main window generates a cookie for security, and attempting to login on a mobile device and desktop for example will invalidate the previous security token.


I'm not always getting the alert cue, or the audio to the alert is delayed.

-April 6, 2021


Since the time of initial customer requests in October 2020, we've investigated and have found that Firefox on desktops is the only rendering engine properly providing accurate audio alerts. Chromium based browsers can fall privy to desync of the audio cue.

We have requested the development team to look further into this going forward.


Does OptionHacker provide buy or sell recommendations?

No, OptionHacker simply displays actual option orders meeting specific criteria necessary to be considered ‘unusual’ by our team of traders and quantitative developers.


How many trades does OptionHacker display per day?

Our filters are designed to produce between 15 and 25 trades per day, but in reality the number of orders varies from day to day. Exceptionally slow days will see fewer than 10 orders, while sessions with heavier volume may produce upwards of 30 signals.


Our first and foremost goal when building and testing OptionHacker was to flag high probability, potentially signals - not a set or finite number of trades per session or day.


Where do the OptionHacker signals originate from?

OptionHacker monitors tens of thousands of trades every session to apply its proprietary filters. Signals originate directly from the 12 exchanges where US equity options are listed and traded.


Audio alerts do not trigger on my Apple mobile device.

iOS users will not receive audio alerts without development of a discrete application. Why? iOS disables autoplay, instead requiring that play be initiated as part of a user interaction (e.g., you can start playback within a touchstart listener). There's a bit of documentation about this on Apple's developer documentation. There's also this article Overcoming iOS HTML5 audio limitations on IBM's developer site that has examples and more detail.


How up to date are the OptionHacker signals?

OptionHacker signals are in real-time (less than 100 milliseconds after the displayed order was filled).


This is possible because OptionHacker works with live data from every options exchange, allowing the scanner to provide the most real-time market insight available.


Do you offer OptionHacker trial subscriptions?

Due to the exchange data fees, we are unable to offer free trials for OptionHacker. However, we may have a promotional trial for a lower entry from time-to-time.


Is there any type of refund period for OptionHacker?

All OptionHacker buyers purchase subscription with the understanding that no refunds will be granted after purchase.

All refund requests must be sent in writing via email to support@alphashark.com.


Why don't I see a new window?

Popups must be enabled. To enable popups, please see the instructions for each individual browser:


I did everything above, but when I click "Launch OptionHacker", I don't get a popup window. It goes back to the member area.

This means that there is an issue with our provider connecting to our active user database. Please contact us with the information you subscribed with and we will forward the issues to be resolved.


What do the various acronyms mean in the triggers?

  • DTS = Day Trade Stock
  • DTO = Day Trade Options
  • STO = Swing Trade Options
  • Above/Below Cloud references Ichimoku Cloud
  • OPENING = a new position
  • SPIM = improving the price
  • SSR = Short Stock Restricted
  • Split Tickets = the price was filled at a split price e.g. 50% at $.35, 50% at $.30
  • CXDL = this means they cancelled the trade but most of the time they just change the price or quantity by a little bit


What does the following highlighted in yellow mean?

Answer: This shows the amount, stock, strike, expiration, quantity and then where stock is trading.


I see Trade CXDL in red below. Does this apply to all orders below it or just the one order below it?

That applies to just the one trade.

In the following screenshot, I don't see the expiration date for LL Sep 10 Calls

  1. It's there if you select 'all strikes'
  2. If it does not a specific expiration then it is the normal one (not weeklies), September 20th-- they are September 20th 10 Calls,  you might want to call you broker if you cant see them.

Changelog/Product Update

  • July 2020
    Removal of linked Charts from alerts
  • April 2021
    Determination of Audio issues