Knowledge Base
知识库
Data sources, core indicators, and methodology behind the GAMMAFRAME terminal.
Data Sources
数据来源
OPRA (Options Price Reporting Authority) is the official consolidated data feed for all U.S. listed options. It aggregates quotes and trades from all 16 U.S. options exchanges (CBOE, NYSE Arca Options, NASDAQ Options, etc.) into a single, authoritative stream.
Intrinio is an institutional-grade data provider that offers direct access to the OPRA feed. Our options data — including strikes, expirations, Greeks, open interest, and volume — is sourced through Intrinio's OPRA integration, ensuring accuracy and completeness.
K-Line (Candlestick) Data is sourced from U.S. exchange market data feeds and updated every minute. Each 1-minute OHLCV bar is ingested as soon as it closes.
VIX Data originates from CBOE (Chicago Board Options Exchange). Note: VIX data may carry a 15-minute delay depending on the data tier.
Gamma Exposure (GEX)
GEX (Gamma Exposure) measures the aggregate gamma hedging pressure that market makers face at each strike price. Because market makers are typically short options, they must delta-hedge — and the size and direction of that hedging depends on gamma.
Positive Gamma Environment (price above Gamma Flip): Market makers hedge against the move — they sell into rallies and buy into dips. This creates a mean-reverting, low-volatility regime.
Negative Gamma Environment (price below Gamma Flip): Market makers hedge with the move — they sell into selloffs and buy into rallies. This creates a trend-amplifying, high-volatility regime.
The platform visualizes GEX as a heatmap overlaid on the price chart, showing how gamma concentration shifts across strikes over time. Dense zones indicate strong hedging walls; sparse zones indicate price can move freely.
Delta Exposure (DEX)
DEX (Delta Exposure) measures the directional hedging pressure on market makers at each strike. While GEX tells you about volatility regime, DEX tells you about directional bias.
Positive DEX at a strike means market makers are net short delta there — they need to buy the underlying to hedge, creating upward pressure.
Negative DEX means they need to sell to hedge, creating downward pressure.
Delta Zero Line is the price where DEX crosses from positive to negative — the directional hedging pressure inflection point. This is conceptually different from Gamma Flip: Gamma Flip marks where volatility character changes; Delta Zero marks where directional pressure flips.
Gamma Flip / Gamma Threshold
Gamma 分界线
Gamma Flip is the price level where aggregate dealer gamma transitions from positive to negative. It is arguably the single most important structural level derived from options positioning.
- Above the Flip: Dealers are long gamma → they suppress volatility. Price tends to consolidate and mean-revert.
- Below the Flip: Dealers are short gamma → they amplify moves. Price tends to trend and gap.
Calculation: For each strike and expiration, the platform computes gamma using the Black-Scholes model, then aggregates across the entire chain, weighted by open interest. The zero-crossing of this aggregate curve is the Gamma Flip.
Call Wall & Put Wall
Call Wall is the strike with the highest positive gamma concentration from call options. It acts as a resistance magnet — market makers hedging short calls at this strike create selling pressure as price approaches.
Put Wall is the strike with the highest gamma concentration from put options. It acts as a support magnet — market makers hedging short puts create buying pressure at this level.
Together, Call Wall and Put Wall define the most likely trading range for the session. Price tends to oscillate between these two levels in a positive gamma environment.
The platform also tracks the Put/Call Ratio in two dimensions:
- Full-chain: Total puts vs calls across all strikes
- Near-the-money (±2%): Puts vs calls within 2% of the current price — more sensitive to short-term sentiment shifts
Max Pain
Max Pain (Maximum Pain Point) is the strike price at which the total dollar value of all outstanding options (both puts and calls) would expire worthless — causing the maximum aggregate loss for option buyers.
As expiration approaches, there is a well-documented tendency for the underlying to gravitate toward Max Pain. This “gravity effect” is strongest in the final 1-2 days before expiration.
Max Pain is recalculated daily at 9:30 AM ET when fresh open interest data becomes available.
Implied Volatility & Greeks
隐含波动率与 Greeks
Implied Volatility (IV) reflects the market's expectation of future price movement, derived from option prices via Black-Scholes inversion. Higher IV means the market expects larger moves.
Rate of change of option price with respect to the underlying. Also approximates the probability of expiring in-the-money.
Rate of change of Delta. Measures how rapidly delta-hedging pressure shifts as price moves. This is the foundation of GEX.
Time decay — the daily erosion of option value. Accelerates as expiration approaches.
Sensitivity to implied volatility. A 1-point increase in IV changes the option price by approximately Vega dollars.
The platform uses Greeks internally to compute GEX, DEX, and structural analysis. Individual Greeks are not displayed as raw numbers; instead, they are synthesized into actionable levels and visual indicators.
Open Interest & Volume
持仓量与成交量
Open Interest (OI) represents the total number of outstanding option contracts that have not been settled. OI data is updated once daily at 9:30 AM ET when the exchanges publish the prior day's final figures.
Volume is the number of contracts traded during the current session. Unlike OI, volume is cumulative intraday and resets each morning.
The Turnover Heatmap uses volume data as its foundation, visualizing where trading activity concentrates relative to the price chart. During regular hours, it shows incremental flow; in pre-market review mode, it displays the last locked pre-market snapshot.
Update Frequency
更新频率
| Data Type | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Options chain | Real-time | Live during market hours |
| K-lines | Every 1 min | 1-min OHLCV bars |
| Open Interest | Daily | 9:30 AM ET reset |
| Pre-market snapshot | Once | Locked at 09:29 ET |
| VIX | Real-time | CBOE data feed |