Reading the market regime before prices move
Reading the market regime before prices move
Every number here is computed from the traded SPY 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.
Computed
A description of conditions, not a recommendation · the same numbers in the ticker bar, the map and the gamma station ·
| Strike | Calls | Puts | Today's volume | Skew |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 768.00 | 19,033 | 20,133 | 464,126 | Put |
| 769.00 | 17,976 | 44,764 | 608,674 | Put |
| 770.00 | 43,742 | 41,757 | 946,401 | Call |
| 771.00 | 16,210 | 15,862 | 983,940 | Call |
| 772.00 | 17,473 | 12,203 | 1,151,217 | Call |
| 773.00 | 23,850 | 7,959 | 1,152,462 | Call |
| 774.00 | 16,351 | 7,862 | 939,563 | Call |
| 775.00 | 37,506 | 21,689 | 887,358 | Call |
| 776.00 | 17,041 | 5,669 | 709,043 | Call |
| 777.00 | 16,493 | 6,469 | 460,259 | Call |
| 778.00 | 22,609 | 6,532 | 191,590 | Call |
| 779.00 | 17,214 | 5,030 | 56,228 | Call |
Session closes from to
| Day | Price | Gamma flip | Call wall | Put wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-15 | 772.24 | 773.67 | 775.00 | 772.00 |
| 2026-10-16 | 762.95 | 772.60 | 765.00 | 760.00 |
| 2026-10-19 | 767.85 | 768.59 | 768.00 | 767.00 |
| 2026-10-20 | 768.17 | 768.03 | 770.00 | 768.00 |
| 2026-10-21 | 773.59 | 770.38 | 775.00 | 769.00 |
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Max pain strike | 770.00 |
| Put/Call ratio · today's volume | 0.97 |
| Put/Call ratio · open interest | 1.58 |
| Implied volatility rank | 37% |
| 0DTE gamma flip | 763.95 |
| 0DTE contracts in chain | 302 |
| Total contracts read | 1,834 |
Closing price 773.09 and the gamma flip is 770.00, only 0.40% apart. Positioning is positive but the gap is narrow: a small break flips gamma negative, turning hedging from a brake on movement into an amplifier of it within the same session. This level, not the walls, is what deserves watching today. Price is inside the range between 769.00 and 775.00, closer to Call wall of the two.
The largest call cluster sits at 775.00 (0.25% from price) and the largest put cluster at 769.00 (-0.53% from price). They are only 0.78% apart — a compressed range: hedging at both ends works together to keep SPY in a narrow band, and any exit from it tends to happen at once rather than gradually.
Net gamma exposure for SPY is 3.04B — a considerable size that keeps hedging clearly present without governing the move on its own. A 1% move calls for about 3.94M shares of hedging. So read the levels below alongside volume, not in isolation from it.
and this reading is built on 1,834 contracts in the chain.
Over the last 22 days of tracking (1,499 archived snapshots), SPY stayed above the gamma flip in 56% of readings, and the flip itself moved between 759.86 and 799.41, a 5.20% range, which means the level moves with the market and does not serve as a fixed reference across days, and net exposure today is above the period average (957.17M).
