The S&P 500 bounced back 2% last week after scraping against 6-month lows. Mixed headlines on the Iran conflict explained much of this tug-of-war, yet markets are still holding their breath. For many traders, the rally felt counterintuitive: How can equities rally so furiously if geopolitical uncertainties remain unresolved? When looking at Tuesday’s major bounce in […]
trace
After OPEX: Market Loses Its Shock Absorber
The options market has just cleared one of the largest structural events of the quarter, as Friday’s OPEX saw nearly $1.4 trillion in delta notional expire for the S&P 500. Because significant positions have now rolled off from the March expiration, the market has lost an important stabilizing force just as macro pressures begin to build. […]
March OPEX: Tipping Point or Turning Point?
Fragility, Risk, and Potential Vol Reset As the S&P 500 enters OPEX week, we echo the same theme of the past few weeks: this market remains fragile. Last week’s selloff pushed the index below the three-month trading range of SPX 6,800-7,000 that had held since late 2025, subsequently closing down 5% since mid-January. The conflict with Iran continues […]
Geopolitical Risk Hits a Fragile Market
Markets entered last week on fragile footing. In our previous Sunday note, we emphasized how negative dealer gamma, extreme put skew, and heavy 0DTE options activity set the market up for a trapdoor scenario. This created a market structure vulnerable to sharp drops and spikes in volatility, as we saw play out last week. The dramatic […]
SpotGamma for Swing Trading
You can use the information provided by SpotGamma’s TRACE tool to help you identify and execute swing trading strategies. For example, you can use the Gamma Exposure (GEX) view in TRACE to identify areas of potential price reversals. You can also use the Delta Pressure view to see where market maker hedging may be putting […]
