What the institutional money is doing on CPRT right now — dark pool, options positioning, and where the news and the money disagree. Free.
The stock is near max pain ($32.50 vs. $32.99 price) with heavy put buying in today's flow (2.36x put-to-call), but off-exchange volume is quiet and short-selling is below normal, indicating no coordinated institutional panic or accumulation.
The bank's purchase is a historical filing (Q2), not current positioning; today's money flow shows put-heavy hedging and subdued off-exchange accumulation, suggesting recent institutional interest has not translated into aggressive current buying.
The bearish narrative aligns with today's put-heavy flow (2.36x put-to-call) and minimal squeeze pressure (score 5), but off-exchange short-selling is below normal and volume is quiet, suggesting institutional traders are not aggressively betting against the stock despite the headwinds.
The optimistic narrative clashes with today's money signals: put-heavy flow (2.36x), zero new call positioning, and subdued off-exchange accumulation all point to hesitation, not conviction, despite the stock sitting near max pain support.
The filing shows past institutional buying, but current money flow contradicts any momentum: today's traders are net-heavy on downside hedges (2.36x put-to-call), off-exchange volume is half normal, and short-selling is below the stock's own average.
A divergence is when the news narrative and the institutional money flow point in opposite directions — a bearish headline while large call premium is bought, or heavy dark-pool selling under a bullish story. It signals the crowd and the desks may disagree.
Dark-pool volume — The share of trading executed off-exchange, at wholesalers and dark pools. About half of all US share volume prints there on an ordinary day, so the level by itself says almost nothing. What carries information is the distance from this name’s own recent norm, and whether the off-exchange size ran above its usual.
Off-exchange short share — How much of that off-exchange volume was sold short. The median across all listed names is about 49%, because wholesalers filling retail buy orders sell short and cover later. A reading near half is plumbing, not a bearish vote — compare it to the same name’s own 20-day norm.
Max pain — The price where the most options expire worthless — positioning often gravitates toward it near expiry.
Call wall / Put floor — Strikes with the heaviest call/put open interest — they often act as short-term resistance and support.
Put/Call ratio — Below ~0.7 leans bullish (more calls); above ~1 leans defensive (more puts).
