Weekly Dark Pool Report — October 26–30, 2026

Market Overview

Small caps and the Dow finished the week higher while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq slipped. SPY closed at 759.97, down 0.43% for the week, and QQQ fell 0.76% to 704.40. IWM gained 1.96% to 275.75 and DIA added 0.44% to 521.37. The S&P 500 ended at 7,623.68, down 0.47%, after touching 7,770.40 on Wednesday, October 21.

ETF	Open	High	Low	Close	Week %
SPY	767.23	774.44	758.68	759.97	-0.43%
QQQ	719.61	727.95	701.16	704.40	-0.76%
IWM	271.82	277.70	270.71	275.75	+1.96%
DIA	518.40	528.45	517.75	521.37	+0.44%

What Led and What Lagged

Eight of the twelve sector funds finished the week higher. XLE led at 1.60%, followed by XLV at 1.45%, XLRE at 0.97% and XLU at 0.83%. XLB, XLP, XLF and XLY each gained between 0.57% and 0.77%. XLK slipped 0.13%, XLI fell 1.87% and SMH lost 2.33%. XLC was the weakest, down 4.36%.

NFLX reported after the close on October 20 and closed October 21 at 65.04, down 6.89%, on 101.4M shares. META reported after the close on October 21 and closed October 22 at 648.85, down 6.98%, on 40.6M shares, compared with 29.2M the day before. For the week, META fell 9.40%, NFLX 6.64% and GOOGL 5.98%, and CRWV dropped 11.65%. TSLA, which reported October 21, gained 4.93%, and PG, which reported October 22, rose 1.05%.

All four index ETFs closed lower on Friday. DIA fell 1.24%, SPY 0.52% and IWM 0.33%, while QQQ was down 0.01%. XLE rose 2.60%, and SMH, XLK and XLRE were the only other sector funds higher on the day. XLP fell 1.92% and XLC 1.78%.

Rates and Crude

Treasury yields fell across the curve on Thursday, October 22. The 10-year yield moved from 5.15% on October 19 to 5.13% on October 21, then ended at 4.96% on October 22. The 2-year went from 4.77% to 4.81% before dropping to 4.65%, and the 30-year from 5.48% to 5.42% before falling to 5.29%. From October 21 to October 22, the 10-year fell 17 basis points, the 2-year 16 and the 30-year 13. The dataset has no October 23 yield print.

Among the commodity and dollar ETFs, the USO oil fund rose 4.80% and the GLD gold fund fell 4.03%. The UUP dollar fund added 0.14%, and the IBIT bitcoin fund slipped 0.41%.

Dark Pool Flow

MobyTick counts prints of 50,000 shares or more and excludes the opening and closing auctions. QQQ printed $25.92B across 36.24M shares at 123 levels, ahead of SPY at $22.91B, 29.92M shares and 48 levels. IWM printed $4.07B across 14.83M shares at 62 levels, and DIA $0.54B at 8 levels.

AAPL led the single names at $8.68B on 25.20M shares, averaging $344.52. NVDA printed $5.53B at an average of $215.27, META $3.76B at $686.88 and MSFT $3.58B at $530.82. MDT printed $2.20B on 23.59M shares across only 7 levels, averaging $93.23. TSLA and PLTR each printed $2.06B. In energy, CVX printed $1.61B and XOM $1.17B.

The eleven sector SPDRs plus SMH printed a combined $7.16B, with SMH at $2.00B and XLF at $0.95B.

Last Week’s Scorecard

Of the reference levels issued October 19 for the week of October 19 to 23, upper-side observations were recorded for 9 tickers and lower-side observations for 2, and three tickers recorded no crossing. Four of 13 tickers reached at least one reference level, for 8 reference levels in total. TSLA reached 2 of 4 upper-side reference levels on a 4.74% range from the reference, and PG reached 4 of 6 upper-side reference levels on a 4.28% range. MSFT reached 1 of 4 lower-side reference levels on a 1.58% range, and AVTR reached 1 of 6 upper-side reference levels on a 5.76% range. QQQ’s high of 727.95 stopped 0.05 short of its 728.00 upper level, and SPY’s high of 774.44 stopped 0.56 short of 775.00. MDT recorded observations on both sides without reaching a reference level on either.

On the Calendar

The FOMC meets on October 27 and 28. Among the tickers covered here, KO reports before the open on Tuesday, October 27, and HOOD after the close that day. GOOGL and MSFT report after the close on Wednesday, October 28, and AMZN after the close on Thursday, October 29. XOM and CVX report before the open on Friday, October 30. AAPL and PLTR follow after the close on Monday, November 2. SPY, QQQ and IWM are ETFs and do not report.

Date	Event
Tue Oct 27	KO earnings, before open
Tue Oct 27	HOOD earnings, after close
Oct 27–28	FOMC meeting
Wed Oct 28	GOOGL earnings, after close
Wed Oct 28	MSFT earnings, after close
Thu Oct 29	AMZN earnings, after close
Fri Oct 30	XOM earnings, before open
Fri Oct 30	CVX earnings, before open
Mon Nov 2	AAPL earnings, after close
Mon Nov 2	PLTR earnings, after close

IWM gained 1.96% on the week while SPY fell 0.43%.

Last Week’s Callout Performance

Ticker	Upper Level	Lower Level	High	Low	Close	Observed Side	Reference Levels Reached	Range From Reference
SPY	$775.00	$757.00	$774.44	$758.68	$759.97	None	0 of 0	—
QQQ	$728.00	$700.00	$727.95	$701.16	$704.40	None	0 of 0	—
IWM	$277.50	$270.00	$277.70	$270.71	$275.75	Upper	Upper: 0 of 5	$277.50 → $277.70 (+0.07%)
MDT	$96.50	$93.00	$96.89	$92.67	$95.41	Upper and lower	Upper: 0 of 6 · Lower: 0 of 4	$96.50 → $96.89 (+0.40%) · $93.00 → $92.67 (-0.35%)
XLU	$42.50	$41.25	$42.88	$41.28	$42.56	Upper	Upper: 0 of 5	$42.50 → $42.88 (+0.89%)
PBR	$26.20	$25.00	$26.39	$25.09	$26.16	Upper	Upper: 0 of 6	$26.20 → $26.39 (+0.73%)
TSLA	$371.25	$350.00	$388.86	$354.47	$372.22	Upper	Upper: 2 of 4 → R2 ($380.00)	$371.25 → $388.86 (+4.74%)
MSFT	$545.00	$524.00	$535.57	$515.70	$524.51	Lower	Lower: 1 of 4 → R1 ($520.00)	$524.00 → $515.70 (-1.58%)
WMT	$121.50	$116.00	$122.40	$116.63	$119.89	Upper	Upper: 0 of 6	$121.50 → $122.40 (+0.74%)
PG	$160.00	$156.00	$166.85	$156.80	$161.02	Upper	Upper: 4 of 6 → R4 ($165.00)	$160.00 → $166.85 (+4.28%)
XLF	$56.50	$53.00	$56.67	$55.03	$55.90	Upper	Upper: 0 of 4	$56.50 → $56.67 (+0.30%)
PLTR	$203.50	$184.00	$202.63	$186.16	$196.75	None	0 of 0	—
AVTR	$16.50	$14.50	$17.45	$16.19	$17.29	Upper	Upper: 1 of 6 → R1 ($17.00)	$16.50 → $17.45 (+5.76%)

Upper-side observations: 9 · Lower-side observations: 2 · No crossing recorded: 3

Tickers reaching ≥1 reference level: 4 · Total reference levels reached: 8

Upper Reference Levels

Ticker	Upper Reference	Reference Levels	Earnings
SPY	$770.00	$772.50 → $775.00 → $777.50 → $780.00 → $785.00 → $790.00	—
QQQ	$712.50	$715.00 → $720.00 → $725.00 → $730.00 → $735.00 → $740.00	—
IWM	$282.50	$285.00 → $287.50 → $290.00 → $292.50 → $295.00	—
MDT	$96.75	$98.00 → $100.00 → $102.50 → $105.00	Not yet announced
AAPL	$352.50	$355.00 → $357.50 → $360.00 → $362.50 → $365.00	Mon Nov 2 · after close
XOM	$184.00	$186.25 → $187.50 → $190.00 → $192.50 → $195.00	Fri Oct 30 · before open
CVX	$235.00	$237.50 → $240.00 → $245.00 → $250.00 → $255.00	Fri Oct 30 · before open
META	$667.5	$670 → $675 → $680 → $685 → $690 → $700	Reported Oct 21
GOOGL	$335	$340 → $344 → $347.5 → $350 → $355 → $360	Wed Oct 28 · after close
PG	$167	$168 → $170 → $172.5 → $175 → $177.5	Reported Oct 22
HOOD	$100	$102.5 → $105 → $107.5 → $110 → $115 → $120	Tue Oct 27 · after close
KO	$95.5	$96.25 → $97.5 → $100 → $101.25 → $102.5	Tue Oct 27 · before open
GME	$26.5	$27.50 → $28.25 → $30 → $31.25 → $32.5	—

Lower Reference Levels

Ticker	Lower Reference	Reference Levels	Earnings
SPY	$757.50	$755.00 → $752.50 → $750.00 → $745.00 → $740.00	—
QQQ	$700.00	$697.50 → $695.00 → $692.50 → $690.00 → $680.00	—
IWM	$270.00	$265.00 → $262.50 → $260.00 → $257.50 → $255.00	—
MDT	$93.00	$92.00 → $91.00 → $90.00 → $88.00	Not yet announced
AAPL	$340.00	$337.50 → $335.00 → $332.50 → $330.00 → $325.00	Mon Nov 2 · after close
XOM	$176.50	$175.00 → $172.50 → $170.00 → $165.00	Fri Oct 30 · before open
CVX	$219.50	$217.50 → $215.00 → $210.00 → $207.00	Fri Oct 30 · before open
META	$630	$625 → $620 → $610 → $600 → $590 → $580	Reported Oct 21
GOOGL	$320	$317.5 → $315 → $310 → $300 → $290 → $280	Wed Oct 28 · after close
PG	$157	$155 → $152.5 → $150 → $147.5 → $145	Reported Oct 22
HOOD	$93	$90 → $87.5 → $85 → $82.5 → $80	Tue Oct 27 · after close
KO	$92.5	$91 → $90 → $87.5 → $85 → $82.50 → $80	Tue Oct 27 · before open
GME	$24.50	$22.5 → $21.25 → $20 → $19	—

This Week’s Reference Levels — Ticker Detail

Each card below shows dark pool flow data for the past week, along with reference levels for the upcoming week. Dark pool statistics are sourced from MobyTick’s proprietary analytics.

ETF Dark Pool Flow

MobyTick dark pool data put $69.85B through the broad-market, sector and semiconductor ETF basket tracked here for the week of Mon Oct 19 to Fri Oct 23, 2026. SPY and QQQ alone accounted for $48.83B, or 70% of the total. Screens count prints of 50,000 shares or more and exclude the opening and closing auctions.

Broad-Market ETFs

ETF	Notional	Shares	Levels	Week %	vs 30d ADV
SPY	$22.91B	29.92M	48	-0.43%	0.69x
QQQ	$25.92B	36.24M	123	-0.76%	0.99x
IWM	$4.07B	14.83M	62	+1.96%	0.58x
IVV	$6.06B	7.87M	14	-0.45%	1.18x
VOO	$3.73B	5.27M	9	-0.43%	0.69x
DIA	$0.54B	1.03M	8	+0.44%	0.30x
Total	$63.23B	95.16M

QQQ carried the largest notional of any ETF at $25.92B on 36.24M shares across 123 levels, 0.99x its 30-day average volume. SPY followed at $22.91B on 29.92M shares and 48 levels, 0.69x ADV. QQQ logged 123 price levels against 48 for SPY on comparable notional, which is the week’s clearest sign of how differently the two indices were worked.

IVV was the outlier on a relative basis: $6.06B on 7.87M shares across just 14 levels, 1.18x ADV — the highest multiple in the basket. DIA printed $0.54B at 0.30x ADV, the lightest in the group.

Sector and Semiconductor ETFs

ETF	Notional	Shares	Levels	Week %	vs 30d ADV
XLK	$0.62B	3.35M	17	-0.13%	0.40x
XLF	$0.95B	17.03M	48	+0.68%	0.46x
XLE	$0.74B	10.82M	38	+1.60%	0.32x
XLV	$0.16B	0.90M	6	+1.45%	0.11x
XLI	$0.48B	2.89M	18	-1.87%	0.38x
XLC	$0.23B	2.09M	8	-4.36%	0.33x
XLP	$0.72B	8.21M	31	+0.73%	0.64x
XLB	$0.18B	3.47M	8	+0.77%	0.31x
XLU	$0.32B	7.58M	32	+0.83%	0.24x
XLRE	$0.02B	0.42M	4	+0.97%	0.06x
XLY	$0.20B	1.76M	10	+0.57%	0.25x
SMH	$2.00B	3.67M	23	-2.33%	0.47x
Total	$6.62B	62.17M

SMH carried $2.00B across 23 levels while the fund fell 2.33% on the week — the largest sector notional in the basket, more than twice XLF’s $0.95B. XLE drew $0.74B across 38 levels into a +1.60% week and a +2.60% Friday, both the strongest of any sector fund tracked here.

The weakest performer drew the least attention. XLC fell 4.36%, the worst sector return of the week, on $0.23B across 8 levels. XLRE was the thinnest book in the basket at $0.02B and 4 levels. XLV drew $0.16B across 6 levels against a +1.45% week.

XLF printed the most levels of any sector fund at 48 on $0.95B, and XLP the second most at 31 on $0.72B. Both are the kind of distribution that shows size being worked in small pieces rather than in single blocks.

Data sourced from MobyTick.

What the Tape Did After the Number: NFLX and META

*Dark Pool Weekly Report — Education Section · Week ending October 23, 2026*

NFLX reported after the close on Tuesday, October 20. META reported after the close on Wednesday,

October 21. Both gaps were negative and both names finished the week well below where they started it.

What diverged was the dark pool tape underneath them, and the divergence is the more useful signal.

Two reactions, same direction

Metric	NFLX	META
Close before the report	$69.85 (Oct 20)	$697.52 (Oct 21)
Next open	$64.15	$676.35
Opening gap	-8.16%	-3.04%
Close on the reaction day	$65.04 (-6.89%)	$648.85 (-6.98%)
Volume on the reaction day	101.4M	40.6M
Volume two sessions earlier	34.0M	17.0M
Week close	$65.85 (-6.64%)	$642.62 (-9.40%)

NFLX gapped 2.7 times as far and still closed the week with the smaller drawdown. META added a second

down session after its gap, closing the week 1.5% above its weekly low.

NFLX: the tape got heavier after the drop

Dark pool prints of 50,000 shares or more, opening and closing auctions excluded:

Session	Shares	Notional	Levels	Avg print
Oct 19	2,550,131	$177.5M	5	$69.61
Oct 20	2,316,717	$159.3M	18	$68.75
Oct 21	4,666,130	$304.5M	25	$65.26
Oct 22	3,346,803	$224.3M	8	$67.02
Oct 23	4,683,769	$310.0M	3	$66.19

Split at the report: $336.8M across 4.87M shares and 23 levels before the print (Oct 19–20, average

price $69.20), against $838.8M across 12.70M shares and 36 levels after it (Oct 21–23, average price

$66.06). The week’s notional landed 2.5 times heavier in the two-and-a-half sessions after the report

than in the two before it, and the average print price stepped down $3.14 — which is what an

institution paying up for size looks like when it is working a lower range.

The three largest sessions of the week all followed the report: Oct 21 at 4.67M shares, Oct 23 at

4.68M shares, and Oct 22 at 3.35M. Before the report the biggest session was 2.55M shares.

META: the tape thinned out

Session	Shares	Notional	Levels	Avg print
Oct 19	2,328,122	$1,640.9M	4	$704.81
Oct 20	424,820	$294.1M	3	$692.20
Oct 21	1,090,216	$769.0M	5	$705.37
Oct 22	1,027,108	$668.0M	8	$650.38
Oct 23	610,688	$392.8M	2	$643.18

META ran the opposite way: $2,703.9M across 3.84M shares and 12 levels before the print (Oct

19–21, average $703.57), against $1,060.8M across 1.64M shares and 10 levels after it (Oct 22–23,

average $647.69). Notional fell 61% once the number was out while the average print price dropped

$55.88. The pre-report tape was concentrated: the Oct 19 session alone carried $1.64B.

Two possible readings, and the data does not pick between them. Either the institutional interest

that had been building before the number was satisfied or withdrawn, or the desks simply had no

further size to work at the lower range. What is observable is the shape: heavy pre-event

accumulation, light post-event follow-through, and a pre-report print average of $703.57 left $60.95

above the week’s close.

That gap matters for how you read a dark pool average. META’s weekly average print of $686.88 is not

a level the stock traded at on Friday. It is a record of where size changed hands across five

sessions, most of it before the news. When the news reprices a stock, the average print price becomes

a description of the past, not a support level for the future.

What the option market was doing before the report

Aggregate change in open interest, every strike and expiry combined:

Date	NFLX call ΔOI	NFLX put ΔOI	META call ΔOI	META put ΔOI
Oct 16	+28,691	+15,030	+27,199	+20,411
Oct 19	+38,809	+38,804	+45,304	+40,026
Oct 20	+48,407	+77,720	+37,349	+27,077
Oct 21	+166,226	+171,039	+43,903	+27,619
Oct 22	+291,750	-29,797	+70,540	+84,405
Oct 23	+19,316	+7,443	+124,023	+7,761

Read the two columns before the event. On NFLX’s report day, put open interest grew by 77,720

contracts against 48,407 for calls — a put-to-call ratio of 1.6 in the day’s new positioning. The

single largest line was the November 13 $58 put, which added 20,625 contracts to 20,915. The same

session added 5,813 to the October 23 $60 put and 5,039 to the October 23 $35 put. Downside

structure was being built on the day of the report, at strikes well below spot.

META’s pre-report sessions leaned the other way. Through Oct 19, Oct 20 and Oct 21 call open

interest rose 45,304, 37,349 and 43,903 while puts added 40,026, 27,077 and 27,619. Calls led on all

three days, and the November 20 $700 call added 3,329 on Oct 19.

One caution that belongs next to any open-interest table: a rising OI figure proves a contract was

created, not who was long it. Buying a call and writing a call both increase call open interest. The

direction lives in trade-level data — premium paid and aggressor side — not in the OI change alone.

The post-event sessions are where the two names separate again. NFLX added 291,750 call contracts on

Oct 22 while put open interest actually fell by 29,797. The additions clustered at one strike: the

January 2027 $100 call added 64,092, the March 2027 $100 call added 47,304, the December 2026 $100

call added 24,843, and the January 2027 $99 call added 14,508. With the stock near $66, a $100

strike sits about 52% above spot. Whether that was bought or written decides whether it is an

upside position or an overwrite, and the OI number alone will not tell you.

Where the open interest sits now

NFLX, spot $65.85, open interest by strike for expiries from October 30 onward:

Strike	Call OI	Put OI
$80	115,508	61,743
$75	81,328	44,722
$70	61,142	107,611
$65	16,616	140,058
$60	6,744	126,616
$58	1,363	53,903

META, spot $642.62:

Strike	Call OI	Put OI
$900	52,070	216
$830	53,369	854
$800	165,603	12,168
$750	285,277	10,831
$700	160,011	22,354
$650	29,392	20,114
$600	17,385	26,352
$550	5,256	25,429

The shapes are nearly mirror images. NFLX sits in a stack: 140,058 puts at $65 and 126,616 at $60

below it, with 115,508 calls at $80 and 81,328 at $75 above. META’s entire concentration is over the

trading range, mostly above spot: $750 holds 285,277 call contracts and $700 another 160,011, with

165,603 at $800. Between $700 and $800 there are 610,891 call contracts. Below spot the put

footprint is thin by comparison.

Strikes carrying that much open interest concentrate hedging flow. They behave as reference points

for the market makers who have to trade around them, which is a different claim from saying they will

hold. The level is where the flow is; it is not a forecast.

Dealer positioning: who is hedging with the move

Instrument	Net gamma exposure	Stance
QQQ	-$498.6M	Dealers short gamma
NFLX	+$3.2M	Dealers long gamma
META	+$28.0M	Dealers long gamma

This is the part worth carrying into next week. The index book was short gamma while both

post-earnings single names were long gamma. Those are opposite hedging regimes. A dealer who is long

gamma sells into strength and buys into weakness, which dampens the move and pulls price back toward

the strikes where the position sits. A dealer who is short gamma does the reverse: buys as price

rises and sells as it falls, which extends the move.

QQQ’s October 22 session is the illustration. The index ETF fell 2.86%, from $725.20 to $704.47, on

64.6M shares against 30.2M to 37.2M on the days around it. That is a short-gamma book being hedged

into a decline.

A related lesson: what a print price is

The late-print aggregate for QQQ on October 22 reads 72 prints, 7,465,098 shares and an average price

of $725.39, for $5.42B. QQQ’s entire range that session was $701.90 to $715.43 and it closed at

$704.47, so that average sits above the day’s high.

All 72 records carry the identical price of $725.3917: 57 at 103,684 shares and 15 at 103,674,

spread from 10:19 ET to 16:12 ET, all reported through one off-exchange venue. Sixty-six carry

Qualified Contingent Trade and Contingent Trade; six carry Form T and Average Price Trade. Measured

against the prevailing bid at each timestamp, the reported price sits $13.04 to $23.04 above it, an

average of $20.46.

So $725.3917 is a reference price attached to a contingent program, not a price at which 7.4M shares

changed hands in that session. Three checks catch this class of print before it reaches a conclusion:

is the price inside the day’s range; how far is the print from the prevailing bid; and which

condition codes are attached. An average or contingent price will fail the first test every time.

Key takeaway

Dark pool flow tells you where size changed hands, and open interest tells you where contracts were

created. Neither tells you direction on its own. What connected the two this week was regime: NFLX

and META both sat under long-gamma dealer books after their reports, which dampens hedging flow, and

both carried their heaviest open interest above spot. The index book was short gamma, and the index

had its heaviest session of the week on a 2.86% decline. Read the gamma stance first, then the wall,

then the print — and check whether the print price is inside the day’s range before you assign it

meaning.

Data sourced from MobyTick.

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute financial advice, investment recommendations, or solicitation to buy or sell securities. Trading stocks, ETFs, and options involves substantial risk of loss. Past performance is not indicative of future results.