Reading the market regime before prices move
Reading the market regime before prices move
Every number here is computed from the traded NOC options chain. The call wall is where dealer hedging accumulates above spot and caps upside, the put wall is its mirror below, and the gamma flip is the level where hedging stops damping moves and starts amplifying them.
| Strike | Calls | Puts | Today's volume | Skew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 485.00 | 0 | 122 | 6 | Put |
| 490.00 | 0 | 86 | 127 | Put |
| 495.00 | 0 | 225 | 17 | Put |
| 500.00 | 18 | 342 | 52 | Put |
| 505.00 | 4 | 25 | 5 | Put |
| 510.00 | 23 | 96 | 88 | Put |
| 515.00 | 5 | 70 | 28 | Put |
| 520.00 | 96 | 143 | 22 | Put |
| 525.00 | 145 | 64 | 17 | Call |
| 530.00 | 144 | 118 | 34 | Call |
| 535.00 | 79 | 60 | 8 | Call |
| 540.00 | 165 | 168 | 9 | Put |
| Day | Price | Gamma flip | Call wall | Put wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-08-10 | 576.05 | 539.21 | 600.00 | 560.00 |
| 2026-08-11 | 575.18 | 542.85 | 600.00 | 560.00 |
| 2026-08-12 | 578.02 | 543.55 | 600.00 | 560.00 |
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Max pain strike | 540.00 |
| Put/Call ratio · today's volume | 2.18 |
| Put/Call ratio · open interest | 0.88 |
| 0DTE gamma flip | 522.70 |
| 0DTE contracts in chain | 220 |
| Total contracts read | 322 |
Price 514.98 is under the gamma flip 523.33 by 1.60%. Positioning is negative: dealer hedging runs **with** the move rather than against it, so jumps become wider and reversals sharper. Sessions in this state move more than the size of the news would suggest. والسعرُ في منتصف المسافة بين الجدارين (500.00 و525.00)، أبعدُ نقطةٍ عن either, and the position that calls for the least flow-driving hedging.
The largest call cluster sits at 525.00 (1.95% from price) and the largest put cluster at 500.00 (-2.91% from price). They are 5.00% apart — a normal range: NOC tends to stay inside it while positioning holds, because hedging at each wall resists a break through it.
صافي تعرّض الغاما لـNOC يبلغ −2.34 مليون، وهو حجمٌ محدود. Hedging for a 1% move is about 4,553 shares. In this range hedging stays secondary to the stock's own flow, so the levels below should not be asked to carry more than they can.
and this reading is built on 322 contracts in the chain.
Over the last 27 days of tracking (292 archived snapshots), NOC stayed above the gamma flip in 80% of readings، وتنقّلت نقطةُ الانقلاب نفسُها بين 522.37 و548.91، أي بنطاق 5.08٪، وهو ما يعني أنّ the level moves with the market and does not serve as a fixed reference across days، and net exposure today is below the period average (4.49 مليون).
