NDX gamma exposure: flip, call wall, put wall

Dealer gamma by strike for Nasdaq-100 index, from the option chain itself: two books, the level where net gamma changes sign, and the two strikes that carry the most. Expiries out to 45 days.

data as of 2026-09-18 16:15:00 ET · not updating right now
Spot
29666
from put-call parity
Zero gamma flip
29307
1.2% below spot
Call wall
29475
0.6% below spot
Put wall
29500
0.6% below spot
Net gamma, volume
+$3.11B
per 1% move
Net gamma, OI
+$1.44B
per 1% move
Price sits above the flip at 29307: on this book dealer hedging leans against a move rather than adding to it. The call wall and the put wall stand on crossed strikes today, which happens when one expiry dominates the book; read the ladder, not the two labels.
Gamma by strike, two books on one axis
OPEN INTEREST · last close
STRIKE
VOLUME · today
29790
29780
29775
29770
29760
29750
29740
29730
29725
29720
29710
29700
29690
29680
29675
29670
spot
29660
29650
29640
29630
29625
29620
29610
29600
29590
29580
29575
29570
29560
29550
29540
By expiry, volume book
expiryflipcallputnet
2026-09-21293812977029300+$1.89B
2026-09-22293472960029450+$237M
2026-09-23296823000029300-$6M
2026-09-24292422980029325+$77M
2026-09-25296353000029400+$13M
2026-09-28294613020029550+$14M
How far to trust this bookB

an index or an ETF; the convention holds, the tape is thinner.

Prints a second, regular session0.53
Strikes where the two books agree on the sign80%
Contracts traded today, expiries shown25,542

What this page assumes

  • Calls count as dealer-long gamma and puts as dealer-short. That is a convention, not a measurement: open interest does not say who holds a contract.
  • The volume book signs today's traded contracts. The open-interest book uses positions as of the last close and does not move inside the day.
  • Spot is derived from the option quotes by put-call parity, so it can sit a few cents from the last trade in the underlying.
  • Two roots of the index, the daily and the monthly, are added together on the dates they share.
  • Every figure is dollars of dealer delta per 1% move in NDX, the unit that compares across symbols.
  • There is no tape-signed book on this page. That book exists only where a live engine runs.

Questions

What does it mean that NDX is above its flip?

Net dealer gamma on this book is positive, so hedging flows tend to lean against a move. It says nothing about direction.

Why are there two books?

Open interest is positioning as it stood at the last close. Volume is what traded today. When they disagree, that split is the reading.

Is this a trading signal?

No. We tested wall touches and flip crosses on SPX across more than a thousand sessions and found no edge that survives costs. These are measurements of where hedging concentrates.

How is this different from the SPX terminal?

SPX runs on a live engine: every second, with a third book signed print by print from the trade tape. This page is rebuilt from chain snapshots and carries the two conventional books only.