An options sweep is an aggressive order that “sweeps” across multiple exchanges to fill quickly — taking whatever's available at each venue to get done fast, rather than waiting patiently at one price. It's often read as urgent, potentially informed buying or selling, and it's core order-flow vocabulary.
What a sweep is
Options trade across many exchanges. A trader wanting to fill a large order immediately can route it to sweep across all of them at once, grabbing the available contracts at each venue — prioritizing speed of execution over price. That urgency is why sweeps get attention: someone was willing to pay up and split across exchanges to get filled now, which can suggest conviction or time-sensitive information (it's the large-order cousin of lifting the offer).
What it signals — and the caveats
Sweeps are often interpreted as “smart money” positioning urgently. But be honest about the limits: you usually can't tell if a sweep is an opening bet, a hedge, or part of a complex position; it could be a market-maker hedging, not a directional bet; and flow data is noisy and easily over-read. A sweep is one aggressive print, not a signal — it's context, not a directive. This is exactly why NoVo works at the level of dealer structure rather than raw flow.
A sweep tells you someone was in a hurry. It doesn't tell you they were right, or even which way they were really betting. Urgency isn't information.
The quick takeaway
A sweep is an aggressive, speed-over-price order filled across multiple exchanges — a sign of urgency, often hyped as informed flow. Treat it as noisy context, not a signal, since you rarely know the intent behind it. NoVo focuses on the dealer levels that positioning builds — more actionable than trying to divine meaning from individual sweeps.