>> How does the selling of Puts and calls register in the data <<
It's just a volume indicator, so at times it could be mis-leading and you need to follow the open interest to get a better feel for who's doing what...
ie;, If I buy 1 call and sell it 1 min later, it registers as "2 call transactions", yet open interest never changed...
Here's a geat question...
Why does a "put" still cost more than a "call" on the SPX index...
Even with the huge run last year, this pricing difference never changed...
ie;, The May1025put goes for about $8.20 and the strike is 80pts away...
And the May1150call goes for about $8.80 and the strike price is 42pts away...