SPXL gamma exposure: flip, call wall, put wall

Dealer gamma by strike for Direxion Daily S&P 500 Bull 3X, 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 120 days.

data as of 2026-10-13 16:00:05 ET · not updating right now · replay SPXL in the terminal
Spot
297.4
from put-call parity
Zero gamma flip
289
2.8% below spot
Call wall
305
2.5% above spot
Put wall
295
0.8% below spot
Net gamma, volume
+$215K
per 1% move
Net gamma, OI
+$12M
per 1% move
Price sits above the flip at 289: on this book dealer hedging leans against a move rather than adding to it.
Gamma by strike, two books on one axis
OPEN INTEREST · last close
STRIKE
VOLUME · today
335
332.5
330
325
322.5
320
317.5
315
312.5
310
307.5
305
call wall
302.5
300
297.5
spot
295
put wall
292.5
290
287.5
285
282.5
280
277.5
275
272.5
270
267.5
265
262.5
260
257.5
By expiry, volume book
expiryflipcallputnet
2026-10-16302.4305295-$125K
2026-10-23269292.5295+$155K
2026-10-30266.1292.5290+$45K
2026-11-06n/a275285-$35K
2026-11-13n/a270290+$12K
2026-11-20274.2300270+$21K
How far to trust this bookB

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

Prints a second, regular session0.05
Strikes where the two books agree on the sign73%
Contracts traded today, expiries shown2,361

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.
  • SPXL options are American style and the underlying may pay a dividend. Each expiry is priced off its own forward from put-call parity, and gamma is Black-Scholes on that forward. Deep in-the-money contracts near a dividend are the weak spot.
  • Every figure is dollars of dealer delta per 1% move in SPXL, 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 SPXL 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.