Most people see a big options print or a block trade and immediately assume "smart money knows something." That's how you get faked out.

Here are the 3 filters I run every single print through before I trust it:

1. Size relative to average volume, not just absolute dollars

A $2M block trade on a stock that trades $500M/day is noise. That same $2M print on a stock with $10M average daily volume is a completely different story. Always check size relative to the stock's normal liquidity, not the raw dollar figure.

2. Sweep vs. single block

A sweep (an order that aggressively hits multiple exchanges at once to fill fast) signals urgency — someone wants in or out NOW, price be damned. A single block print negotiated off-exchange is often a hedge, a basket rebalance, or an index fund doing its job. Sweeps deserve way more attention than clean block prints.

3. Does it repeat?

One print is a data point. Three prints on the same ticker within a week, in the same direction, from what looks like different desks — that's a pattern. I don't act on a single print. I wait to see if the flow repeats before treating it as signal instead of noise.

Curious what filters other people here use — anyone tracking dark pool prints daily? What's your threshold for "unusual"?