Gamma exposure (GEX) measures the total hedging obligation that market makers carry at each strike price across all active options contracts. When you understand GEX, you understand where price is likely to bounce, stall, or accelerate — before the move happens.
Market makers don't take directional bets. When they sell you an option, they hedge by buying or selling the underlying stock or index. How much they hedge depends on gamma — the rate at which their hedge ratio changes as price moves.
GEX aggregates all of that hedging activity across every strike and expiration, giving you a map of where dealers are positioned. This map reveals levels that traditional technical analysis completely misses.
When GEX is positive at a strike, market makers are long gamma. They buy when price drops and sell when price rises. This creates a dampening effect — price tends to mean-revert and chop around these levels. Positive gamma zones are "sticky."
When GEX is negative, market makers are short gamma. They sell when price drops and buy when price rises — amplifying the move. Negative gamma zones are "fast." Once price enters a negative gamma zone, expect acceleration and trend continuation.
When gamma is roughly balanced, price behavior is less predictable and more influenced by order flow and news.
The strike with the highest absolute GEX concentration. This is the primary magnet level — price tends to gravitate toward the king node throughout the session. On StrikeGEX, the king node is highlighted with a crown icon.
The highest positive GEX strike above current price. Acts as strong resistance because market makers aggressively sell into rallies at this level.
The highest negative GEX strike below current price. Acts as strong support because market makers buy dips aggressively at this level.
The price level where aggregate gamma switches from positive to negative (or vice versa). Below the flip, expect trending behavior. Above the flip, expect mean-reversion. This is one of the most important levels for determining intraday market character.
GEX is not static. As options are bought, sold, and expire throughout the day, the gamma landscape shifts. This is especially true for 0DTE (zero days to expiration) options on SPX, which now account for roughly 40-50% of daily SPX options volume.
A tool that only shows end-of-day GEX misses these intraday shifts entirely. That's why real-time updates matter — a king node at the open may not be the king node at 2 PM.
You don't need to calculate GEX yourself. StrikeGEX pulls live options chain data, computes gamma exposure at every strike, and presents it in color-coded views that anyone can read — no options knowledge required.
Open the dashboard, read the colors, identify the king node and walls, and trade with real levels instead of guesses.
StrikeGEX shows you real-time gamma levels for SPX, SPY, QQQ and 226+ symbols. Updated every 5 minutes.
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