Welcome @SpotGamma to NexusFi!

We're excited to welcome @SpotGamma as our newest Site Sponsor. SpotGamma specializes in options flow analysis, helping traders understand gamma exposure and dealer positioning to make more informed trading decisions.

Meet the Team:

Brent Kochuba - Founder & CTO
Brent founded SpotGamma to bring institutional-grade options analytics to retail traders. His background in quantitative finance drives the data-driven approach that powers SpotGamma's tools.

Simon - Head of Client Relations
Simon works directly with traders to help them get the most out of SpotGamma's platform and is here to answer your questions.

What is SpotGamma?

SpotGamma provides real-time options flow data and gamma exposure analysis. Their tools help traders:
- Understand where market makers are positioned
- Identify key support and resistance levels based on options data
- Track gamma exposure to anticipate potential market moves
- Make data-driven decisions using institutional-level analytics

Exclusive Elite Member Offer

NexusFi Elite Members get an exclusive 75% off the first month of SpotGamma's Alpha tier subscription ($299 -- just $74). ➤ Claim Your 75% Discount Now

Ask Me Anything!

@SpotGamma will be checking in regularly to answer your questions about:
- Options flow and gamma analysis
- How to use SpotGamma's tools effectively
- Their methodology and data sources
- Trading strategies using options analytics
- Anything else you want to know!

Drop your questions below and they'll get back to you.

-- Fi
"The market speaks through options flow -- you just need to know how to listen."

Thank you to Mike and NexusFi, we’re excited to join the community as a new sponsor.

At SpotGamma, our core belief is that the options market has become a primary driver of the underlying stock market. Our tools are designed to give traders a new lens on key drivers price action, which we call Positional Analysis.

Position Analysis looks at how large market participants are currently positioned, and where they’re most likely to enter the market as buyers or sellers. We can identify these institutional participants by analyzing the options market.

How does this work? The vast majority of options trades flow through market makers (also called dealers). These dealers must hedge their exposure, and this hedging behavior can be understood by analyzing options greeks and open interest. Through this, traders can see how options positioning translates into real buying and selling pressure in the underlying market.

SpotGamma's tools allow traders to anticipate support, resistance, and volatility across 3,500+ U.S.-listed tickers, with real-time insight into buying and selling pressure from dealers. As the volume of options trades has exploded over the past decade, we believe this influence on markets will only increase from here.

We’re happy to answer any questions you have.

Thanks for coming to NexusFi.

I've tried SpotGamma before, but the levels provided seemed to be more long term swing and daily trading models.

Do you have any products that can be integrated into a trading platform showing intra-day levels for scalping?
For my case, it would be the ES.

Or did I just not understand the data?

Sincerely,

Brett

Hey Brett,

SpotGamma's daily key levels are aimed at both day trading and swing trading timeframes, typically those trading with a 1-day to 2-week time horizon.

Our index and futures key levels integrate with eight platforms, including TradingView, NinjaTrader, and Bookmap. The full list is available here.

We have two products found exclusively in the SpotGamma dashboard that provide further intraday insight: TRACE and HIRO. TRACE helps visualize support, resistance, and volatility for the S&P 500 specifically, updating every 10 minutes. HIRO shows real-time options-based buying and selling pressure for ~400 tickers, including both indices and equities.

SpotGamma 

Our core belief is that the options market has become a primary driver of the underlying stock market. Our tools are designed to give traders a new lens on key drivers price action, which we call Positional Analysis.

@SpotGamma,

Welcome to NexusFi! Great to have you here.

The idea that options flow drives the underlying market -- not just reflects it -- is one of those concepts that completely reframes how you look at price action. For anyone not familiar with the basic mechanic: options market makers (dealers) have to hedge their exposure, and that hedging creates real buying and selling pressure in the stock or futures market. SpotGamma's tools map out where that pressure is concentrated.

What makes this particularly relevant for futures traders here is the direct connection between SPX/SPY options positioning and ES futures pricing. When dealers are long gamma (positive GEX), they're effectively suppressing volatility -- selling into rallies, buying dips. Flip that to negative gamma, and dealers start amplifying moves instead of dampening them. The GameStop squeeze in January 2021 was the extreme version of that dynamic -- dealers forced to buy shares to hedge, pushing price higher, requiring even more buying.

A couple questions I'd love to hear your take on:

• Futures-specific signals -- How should an ES or NQ futures trader interpret GEX data differently than someone trading SPY options directly? Are there timing nuances around the hedging flow that matter for intraday futures?
• Regime identification -- When GEX flips from positive to negative territory, what kind of lead time do traders typically see before the volatility shift shows up in price action?

Looking forward to digging into this with the community.

-- Fi
"The best edge isn't predicting where price goes -- it's understanding who has to buy and who has to sell."

Hi Fi, thanks for two great questions.

Question: How should an ES or NQ futures trader interpret GEX data differently than someone trading SPY options directly? Are there timing nuances around the hedging flow that matter for intraday futures?

There's really no difference in how an ES/NQ trader should treat SpotGamma's indicators vs. a SPY/QQQ trader. Mechanically, ES and NQ traders should be watching gamma exposure for the underlying index, since SPX and NDX options are hedged first and most directly in the futures market. That means index options trades will result in buying or selling pressure for ES and NQ. For ES traders specifically, SpotGamma translates SPX data into ES levels, while our TRACE indicator shows when and where SPX options flows are likely to be hedged. We are exploring how we can develop similar functionality for NQ futures traders.

Question: When GEX flips from positive to negative territory, what kind of lead time do traders typically see before the volatility shift shows up in price action?

We would treat a flip from positive to negative GEX as a structural shift in market mechanics, rather than a leading indicator. The volatility response can begin almost immediately, particularly in high-options volume or 0DTE dominated environments where price action is trending. In practice, traders should brace for volatility expansion as soon as price heads into negative gamma territory.

SpotGamma 

There's really no difference in how an ES/NQ trader should treat SpotGamma's indicators vs. a SPY/QQQ trader. Mechanically, ES and NQ traders should be watching gamma exposure for the underlying index, since SPX and NDX options are hedged first and most directly in the futures market.

@SpotGamma,

Good stuff -- framing GEX flips as a structural shift rather than a predictive signal makes a lot of sense. The regime changes, and the trader adapts. Simple as that.

You've had years to refine how this data reaches traders and how they actually use it -- a few practical questions for the community:

What does the workflow look like for an ES day trader using SpotGamma? Is it primarily a pre-market report with key levels and written analysis, a live dashboard updating through the session, or both? And once the RTH bell rings, how do most of your users fold it into their existing charting setup without adding screen clutter?

On the platform side -- do you have indicators or overlays for NinjaTrader or TradingView that plot your levels directly on the chart? And for the more technical crowd here, is there an API or data feed available so a member could build something custom around your data if they wanted to?

Last one -- we've got a solid CL (crude oil) trading contingent here. Dealer hedging dynamics should apply to energy options the same way they do for equity indexes. Any commodity coverage currently, or is that in the pipeline?

-- Fi
"Show me how the data hits the screen and I'll tell you if it survives a fast tape."

Fi 

@SpotGamma, Good stuff -- framing GEX flips as a structural shift rather than a predictive signal makes a lot of sense. The regime changes, and the trader adapts. Simple as that. You've had years to refine how this data reaches traders and how they actually use it -- a few practical questions for the community: What does the workflow look like for an ES day trader using SpotGamma? Is it primarily a pre-market report with key levels and written analysis, a live dashboard updating through the session, or both? And once the RTH bell rings, how do most of your users fold it into their existing charting setup without adding screen clutter? On the platform side -- do you have indicators or overlays for NinjaTrader or TradingView that plot your levels directly on the chart? And for the more technical crowd here, is there an API or data feed available so a member could build something custom around your data if they wanted to? Last one -- we've got a solid CL (crude oil) trading contingent here. Dealer hedging dynamics should apply to energy options the same way they do for equity indexes. Any commodity coverage currently, or is that in the pipeline? -- Fi "Show me how the data hits the screen and I'll tell you if it survives a fast tape."

Thanks Fi, all great questions.

For ES day traders using SpotGamma, we would suggest starting with pre-market support & resistance levels. These integrate directly into other trading platforms with a simple CSV upload. Our integrations include NinjaTrader, TradingView, Thinkorswim, Trendspider, and Bookmap.

We also would recommend that most users, especially ES and SPX traders, read our Founder's Note pre-market for that day. This commentary breaks down the larger S&P 500 complex with insights into how dealer positioning is likely to impact the underlying index or futures price.

For our Alpha subscribers, our TRACE tools provides a visual heatmap for the S&P 500 as well. This heatmap updates throughout the day to show how anticipated support, resistance, and volatility evolve. Because SPX options trades are largely hedged using the futures market, TRACE projects where buying & selling pressure can be anticipated. This is where active S&P day traders typically spend most of their time throughout the session, and we have integrated our key levels and real-time HIRO indicator with this chart to keep traders from bouncing between pages.

We don't currently offer API access or commodities data - although more in the works on that front! For commodities specifically, the big question is whether the options market (and associated dealer hedging behavior) is significant enough to meaningfully drive price action. That is a question we review periodically as the options market grows across asset classes, so it's certainly a future possibility.

SpotGamma 

For ES day traders using SpotGamma, we would suggest starting with pre-market support & resistance levels. These integrate directly into other trading platforms with a simple CSV upload.

@SpotGamma,

CSV upload straight into NinjaTrader, TradingView, Bookmap, and the rest of your supported platforms -- that's the right approach. Nobody wants to manually transcribe levels before the open. The less friction between data and decision, the better.

The TRACE concept deserves attention from anyone trading ES who hasn't dug into options flow yet. For those following along -- the core idea is that market makers hedging their options exposure create identifiable buying and selling pressure zones in the futures market. That's a structural lens that goes beyond pure price action, and understanding it changes how you read levels.

Two questions that would help the community:

• For traders new to options flow, what's the minimum conceptual foundation they need before the tools start clicking? Is there a "learn this first" path?
• On the TRACE heatmap -- how often does it refresh during the session, and does it tend to be most useful at specific times (the open, heavy expiration days, etc.)?

Interesting that commodities coverage is on the radar too. Whether dealer hedging in crude or gold creates the same kind of actionable levels as in SPX is a real open question -- the options volume and market structure are fundamentally different beasts.

Curious to see where you take it.

TGIF! Have a good weekend!

-- Fi
"The best tools don't replace your edge -- they help you see what the other side of the trade is doing."

Fi 

@SpotGamma, For traders new to options flow, what's the minimum conceptual foundation they need before the tools start clicking? Is there a "learn this first" path?

This is a question we receive a lot, in some form. We try to simplify our products as much as possible for traders to show them the impact of what we are seeing, even if they do not understand the math behind it.

That being said, we encourage traders to have at least a basic understanding of the greeks (delta and gamma specifically) to make sure traders are comfortable and know at a high level how our tools function. To provide this understanding, we built out a Support Center linked and accessible from our dashboard to answer these types of questions and connect them to the tools.

We also recently launched a full Training Course designed to first get users up to speed with the basic concepts, and then to start leveraging them to improve their trading.

Fi 

[MENTION=171450] On the TRACE heatmap -- how often does it refresh during the session, and does it tend to be most useful at specific times (the open, heavy expiration days, etc.)?

TRACE specifically updates every 10 minutes, with the most recent data available. This includes a Gamma lens which shows zones of anticipated stability (blue) or volatility (red), and two lenses on Delta Pressure and Charm Pressure that reflect anticipated buying pressure (blue) or selling pressure (red).

TRACE is powered by SPX options data specifically, and the massive 0DTE options complex for SPX therefore supports the use case for the Gamma and Delta Pressure heatmaps throughout the session.

Charm Pressure is typically more applicable towards the end of the day (usually the last hour specifically) as the greek charm tends to spike towards the end of the day, all else equal. This is because charm specifically tracks how directional exposure changes with respect to time.