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Edition · Thursday, August 20, 2026·Archived · 10d ago · historical·20 Aug 2026 12:26 UTC

NQNEGATIVE

Spot29256.00Futures29347.00Basis+91.00SessionPREMARKET
Dealer Regime
NEG_GAMMA_DEEP_POCKET_SINGLE_STRIKE_MAGNET
NetGEX -$212Risk ELEVATED
Opening Type
OPEN DRIVE DN
Conf 52%Day TRENDGAP DN
Share Card
Accuracy Ledger2 logged · 2 scored50% hit rateFull ledger ↓
Desk Thesis · 2026-08-20

NQ is the fragile board - spot sits 114 index points below its 0DTE gamma neutral against only 17 on SPX, its 1DTE dollar-delta is -$1.85B with just 53% internally cancelled, and every vanna antimagnet sits at or above spot while every magnet sits below, with the largest structural magnet at exactly the same 29100 strike that dominates gamma, VEX and DEX for tomorrow's expiry.

NDX 29100 is the level of the day - the Aug-21 OPEX put wall (-$1.088B, 1,348 OI) is simultaneously the dominant GEX node, the dominant VEX node, the dominant DEX node and the largest structural vanna magnet, with a cross-rail cluster at gexPercentile 1.000; trade NQ 29306-29414 as a two-sided band, target 29270 then 29191 on weakness, and size the NQ leg smaller than ES because NDX 0DTE coverage is 0.560 with five of eight native walls thin.

Level Map

Confluence-ranked · distances from spot 29256.00
NQ
NDX
Level
Action · Distance
NQ30091.00
NDX30000.00
CALL WALLAug-26 6DTE call wall
WATCH+2.54% · conf 1
NQ29668.31
NDX29577.31
CALL WALLCross-rail cluster NQ:call:29666
WATCH+1.09% · conf 3
NQ29589.74
NDX29498.74
CALL WALLCluster NQ:call:29588 plus 0DTE call wall plus largest vega shelf
WATCH+0.83% · conf 3
NQ29553.46
NDX29462.46
GAMMA FLIP0DTE Gamma Neutral (native, EXACT) - THE CEILING
WATCH+0.70% · conf 3
NQ29470.22
NDX29379.22
VANNA ANTIMAGNETQQQ vanna antimagnets
WATCH+0.42% · conf 2
NQ29461.82
NDX29370.82
DOMINANT ANCHORCross-rail cluster NQ:put:29460
WATCH+0.39% · conf 3
NQ29442.38
NDX29351.38
DOMINANT ANCHORHalf-gap / Native Control line
WATCH+0.33% · conf 2
NQ29429.13
NDX29338.13
VANNA ANTIMAGNETNearest QQQ vanna antimagnet
WATCH+0.28% · conf 2
NQ29414.31
NDX29323.31
GAMMA FLIP7DTE Gamma Neutral (native, EXACT)
WATCH+0.23% · conf 2
NQ29305.86
NDX29214.86
VANNA MAGNETQQQ vanna magnet
WATCH-0.14% · conf 2
NQ29270.08
NDX29179.08
PUT FLOORCross-rail cluster NQ:put:29268
WATCH-0.26% · conf 2
NQ29256.43
NDX29165.43
PUT FLOORQQQ Aug-21 OPEX put wall projection
WATCH-0.31% · conf 3
SPOT
NQ29347.00
NDX29256.00
Range 28878.90–29815.10
NQ29191.00
NDX29100.00
PUT FLOORAug-21 OPEX put wall - THE LEVEL OF THE DAY
WATCH-0.53% · conf 3
NQ29051.04
NDX28960.04
PUT FLOORCluster NQ:put:29049
WATCH-1.01% · conf 1

Level Reaction

Intraday tape · NQ · 2026-08-20
Loading session tape…

Greek Pressure

Dealer directional forces · next session
VANNA
DOWN · 85

The cleanest signal on the NQ board. Every antimagnet sits at or above spot (29338, 29379, 29390, 29461, 29500) and every magnet below (29215, 29174, 29100, 28968, 28763). The largest structural magnet is at 29100, the same strike that dominates gamma, VEX and DEX. vexConfidence tier high, score 0.96. The four fixed1m rows are a 1-minute-TTE proximity band with vhi of 3-16 and carry no weight.

GAMMA
DOWN · 78

Net GEX -$211.9M with spot 114 index points below the 0DTE gamma neutral - a far deeper negative-gamma pocket than SPX's 17 points. Only the 7DTE tenor is positive and at +$3.9M it is trivial.

CHARM
DOWN · 50

Opposite sign to the ES family and far smaller, and static across all three post-outage polls so no NQ charm trend exists. Every charm centroid sits below spot. The NQ charm drift card is STALE with no canonical native drift published.

VOMMA
UP · 62

Positive with vommaRegime positiveHigh - vol-of-vol amplifying, so an IV expansion feeds on itself.

COLOR
UP · 5

Negligible on a chain of 884 contracts across a single expiration.

SPEED
NEUTRAL · 0

Single-strike level property, NOT an aggregate and not compared to any net. Exactly zero is the expected result of speed being non-zero on only about 1% of contracts, not a market fact. Note the NDX gn0Strike of 29425 carries GREEKS_GN0_ANCHOR_FALLBACK_SPOT - it is a spot fallback, not a gamma-neutral crossing, and is excluded from the level pack.

ZOMMA
DOWN · 10

Single-strike level property at the gamma-neutral strike, not an aggregate. Slightly destabilising, low weight.

ULTIMA
DOWN · 30

Negative on the NQ family but positive on the ES family (+15,778,291). Flagged as an unresolved cross-family inconsistency rather than read as a signal.

Higher-Order

Second + third-order greeks
color
LATENT
56.460

speed
LATENT
0.000

vomma
LATENT
7264764.000

zomma
LATENT
-0.016

IV Intelligence

Quadrant · skew · term structure
Regime Quadrant
Not captured
ATM IVUnavailable
IV Percentile14
Skew Pctile84
Skew ShapeNORMAL
Expected Daily MoveNot captured
Term Structure
Not captured
Term structure not captured for this sessionExpected: ivRegime.termStructure as array of IV fractions per tenor (front/mid/back).

Cross-Asset Confirmation / Component Confluence

CONFIRMING · COMPLETE
4 native levels received secondary cross-asset confirmation. Strongest alignment sits around 29191.00 via component confluence zones.

Native futures levels stay primary. Use ETF conversions as corroboration and component zones as provisional structure only, especially when the overlay is partial or quality flags are present.

Secondary confirmation only. Native index and MCP levels remain primary. MCP-native individual stock Greek scans are unavailable; if component confluence is attached it was produced by the system-level Polygon overlay path and remains opt-in, secondary, and provisional rather than an executable native futures level. Component weights are static/proxy unless explicitly holdings-confirmed, beta may be defaulted to 1.0, and TOP_10 lists should not be treated as quantitatively ranked until liquidity plus holdings/beta calibration are implemented.

Native Levels Confirmed

4 matched levels
PUT FLOOR
21 conf
29191.00
Aug-21 OPEX put wall - THE LEVEL OF THE DAY

Aug-21 OPEX put wall - THE LEVEL OF THE DAY is secondarily confirmed by 3-stock zone 29152.06-29196.08.

COMP 2
VANNA MAGNET
21 conf
29305.86
QQQ vanna magnet

QQQ vanna magnet is secondarily confirmed by 3-stock zone 29337.53-29406.85.

COMP 2
GAMMA FLIP
21 conf
29414.31
7DTE Gamma Neutral (native, EXACT)

7DTE Gamma Neutral (native, EXACT) is secondarily confirmed by 3-stock zone 29337.53-29406.85.

COMP 2
VANNA ANTIMAGNET
21 conf
29429.13
Nearest QQQ vanna antimagnet

Nearest QQQ vanna antimagnet is secondarily confirmed by 3-stock zone 29337.53-29406.85.

COMP 2

ETF Confirmation Levels

QQQ ratio-converted
No ETF ratio confirmations were retained.Missing ETF spot or source coverage can suppress this list on bounded runs.

Component Confluence Zones

Provisional only
CALL_WALL
0.47
29337.53 - 29406.85
center 29376.41 · 3 names · DTE 8

3-stock call-side confluence cluster centered 29376.41. Provisional component estimate, not a native executable level.

PUT_SUPPORT
0.47
29152.06 - 29196.08
center 29174.07 · 3 names · DTE 8

3-stock put-support confluence cluster centered 29174.07. Provisional component estimate, not a native executable level.

CALL_WALL
0.40
29313.37 - 29412.19
center 29357.37 · 11 names · DTE 1

11-stock call-side confluence cluster centered 29357.37. Provisional component estimate, not a native executable level.

PUT_SUPPORT
0.40
29309.06 - 29364.69
center 29336.10 · 9 names · DTE 1

9-stock put-support confluence cluster centered 29336.10. Provisional component estimate, not a native executable level.

Cautions

Quality-aware language
  • Component zones rely on static/proxy weights rather than holdings-confirmed weights and stay secondary to native futures levels.
  • At least one component projection defaulted beta to 1.0, so component-zone placement is approximate.
  • Source coverage was degraded by quote gaps or pagination truncation, so missing confirmations are not a signal by themselves.
  • Parts of the overlay could not be converted onto the futures axis because a required live price was unavailable.
  • One or more component zones were built from a small contributor set and should be treated as provisional only.
  • MCP-native individual stock Greek scans are unavailable. If component zones are attached, they come from the system-level Polygon overlay path and remain secondary/provisional to native index and MCP levels.

Overlay Diagnostics

Runtime 48s
  • LIGHTER_SELECTION_PATH: using static seed order for this overlay run to avoid a duplicate liquidity pre-scan before component resolution.
  • ETF_SOURCE: contracts:PAGINATION_REQUIRED
  • ETF_SOURCE: contracts:PAGINATION_TRUNCATED
  • COMPONENT_SOURCE: Selected universe uses STATIC_SEED_FALLBACK and HOLDINGS_STALE until issuer/provider holdings adapters exist.
  • COMPONENT_SOURCE: Using static seed order for this run to avoid a duplicate liquidity pre-scan before component source resolution.
  • MISSING_ETF_SPOT: cannot convert QQQ CALL_WALL

LBF Status

Look-Below-And-Fail · conditions armed
0
NOT ARMED · 0/3 conditions
0
Tension Index

Accuracy Log

Outcomes · last 2 levels scored
DateSymbolLevelPredictedOutcomeNotes
2026-04-20NQDOMINANT ANCHOR@ 26831.00FADE_ATHELDHigh print was 26827.00, four points shy of the 26831 anchor. The ceiling held and the contract closed back below at 26774.50.
2026-04-20NQPUT FLOOR@ 26689.00BUY_ON_TESTABSORBEDNQ broke below first support to 26593.75, but the move did not extend to 26499 structural support. The contract recovered and closed 26774.50, so the downside strike occurred but was ultimately absorbed.
Total Logged2
Scored2
Hit Rate50%
Best Level Type

Archive

Recent editions
2026-08-28 · NQ
The Nasdaq is net positive on 0DTE gamma but is trading just BELOW its 0DTE flip on the rail that actually has depth, which puts it in a shallow negative-gamma pocket rather than in a damped one. The ETF rail carries 240,914 contracts within 1.5 percent of spot against the native book's 7,483 - a 32 to 1 ratio - and it places the cumulative crossing at 29,626-29,667 index, above spot, while the thin native rail places it below. Being under the flip does not contradict an upward lean, it amplifies it: impulses are not damped here, so a push accelerates into the nodes overhead rather than being sold into. Vanna agrees emphatically - all four native antimagnets sit in a band that contains spot while all four magnets sit above it, the strongest repulsion being -20,028 essentially on price. The counterweight is charm, which flipped negative early and stayed there, a mild drag that the S&P does not have.
OPEN AUCTION · NORMAL
BULLISHPOSITIVE
2026-08-28 · ES
The S&P is in strongly positive gamma with spot 15 points above a Gamma Neutral that has been rising all morning, and the book is asymmetric in a way that supports both halves of a grind-up-with-a-trapdoor read: the entire 0DTE put wing sits at ONE strike, 7700 carrying -$2,890M on 12,021 contracts, while call gamma runs continuously across eleven strikes from 7745 to 7800 with no single dominant obstacle - so the downside is a cliff at one level and the upside is a ramp. Vanna says the same thing from a different direction, with a -23,142 antimagnet at 7717.66 and a +24,764 magnet at 7767.77 straddling spot. Charm is positive and building 28.7 percent this morning. The path of least resistance is up toward the 7765-7775 complex where the dominant gamma node, the vanna magnet and the cumulative crossing all coincide.
OPEN AUCTION · NORMAL
BULLISHPOSITIVE
2026-08-27 · NQ
NDX is pinned on the largest gamma node in its own book - the native 29,510 strike at +$526M and the ETF 718 strike at +$295.7M land seven points apart on separately measured chains, joined by a STRONG allCredible cluster at percentile 0.948 - inside a strongly positive-gamma regime where dealer hedging damps every impulse, and since the open the vanna channel has inverted at spot from antimagnet to magnet so that it now reinforces the pin rather than fighting it.
OPEN AUCTION · TREND
NEUTRALPOSITIVE
2026-08-27 · NQ
NDX has cleared into damped positive gamma with spot sitting at the top of its 29,326 to 29,483 flip band, so unlike the S&P it absorbs impulses rather than amplifying them - but price is resting directly on the 0DTE vanna antimagnet at QQQ 717 with the dominant magnet of the whole board 123 points above at QQQ 720, so it is unlikely to sit still, and the 718 call wall at NQ 29,573 is the gate that decides which way it goes.
OPEN AUCTION · TREND
NEUTRALPOSITIVE
2026-08-27 · ES
SPX is sitting on its 0DTE gamma flip inside a negative-gamma pocket running from 7647 to 7736, so intraday moves amplify rather than damp until price reaches an edge - and the upper edge is guarded by the largest one-sided call-gamma block on either chain, roughly +$8.0B from 7740 to 7820 with zero put open interest above 7755.
OPEN AUCTION · TREND
NEUTRALPOSITIVE
2026-08-26 · RTY
RUT is the un-pinned index. It carries roughly 1.6 percent of SPX's dealer gamma (+$65M against +$4,010M) while pricing 171 percent of its implied volatility (21.90 percent against 12.82), which works out to an expected move of 0.64 percent against SPX's 0.40. Measured against a VIX-implied daily of 0.986 percent, RUT is priced at 65 percent of the 30-day equivalent where SPX is at 41 - the front-day compression dominating the large-cap complex this week is much weaker in small caps, and RUT retained 80 percent of its Tuesday-close front-day variance overnight against the SPX complex's 64 percent. The structure is balanced and the discriminator is unusually well defined despite a thin chain and a broken vendor IV field: the cumulative-GEX crossing has printed inside a 0.20 point band across fourteen polls and five hours, with spot 2 points above it. The ceiling is the STRONG 0.797 cluster at RUT 3017 where IWM's call wall sits on all three listed expiries; the floor is RUT 2997-3000, the only price both rails independently mark.
OPEN AUCTION · NORMAL
NEUTRALPOSITIVE
2026-08-26 · NQ
NQ is structurally coiled with a genuine upside pull that is capped about 150 points above spot. Spot sits INSIDE a contiguous vanna antimagnet band running NQ 29,181 to 29,269, with a contiguous magnet band NQ 29,328 to 29,416 immediately above and nothing between them, so vanna is repelling price from where it is and attracting it higher. Two independent pieces of evidence support that lean: the NQ family is call-skewed into the event, with NDX 0DTE ATM calls at 16.4 against puts at 14.9 and QQQ at 21.1 against 16.2, a REVERSE_SMIRK on both, while the ES family is put-skewed; and QQQ 0DTE positive gamma built 12x through the pre-market. Against it, the NQ family is the fragile one - underperforming ES by 16 basis points overnight, charm negative on both native and ETF books where SPX is positive, spot 47 points BELOW its own Gamma Neutral where SPX is 2 points above, and its call wall and flip both migrating DOWN while the ES flip migrated UP. The resolution is that this is a two-sided, discriminator-dependent session rather than a directional one.
OPEN AUCTION · NORMAL
NEUTRALPOSITIVE
2026-08-26 · ES
ES is in a positive and building 0DTE gamma regime with spot two points above the most corroborated level in the complex - SPX 0DTE Gamma Neutral at 7670.57 / ES 7685.1, which is also the STRONG cross-rail cluster at the 0.949 GEX percentile. Positive gamma more than doubled through the pre-market while the put wall and the flip both migrated up and the call wall never moved, a constructive drift on every component. The 0DTE straddle implies only plus or minus 31 ES points, 41 percent of the VIX-implied daily, so the base case is a small, dampened, range-bound session. The structural asymmetry is in time rather than price: 0DTE is the only positive-gamma tenor in the whole ES complex and its dampening expires at today's close, into a negative-gamma 1DTE book that prices NVDA and whose largest negative node sits overhead at SPX 7715.
OPEN AUCTION · NORMAL
BULLISHPOSITIVE
2026-08-25 · NQ
NDXP is live for the first time today and the book is unambiguously positive gamma at +$1.42B with the entire gamma shelf stacked above spot at NQ 29440-29496, while session VWAP at 29331-29337 sits precisely on the QQQ 712 node and the 0.998-percentile cluster - so a reversion into 29326-29337 followed by extension into the overhead shelf is the mechanically favoured path, with the caveat that long-gamma dealers decelerate the extension rather than accelerating it.
OPEN DRIVE UP · NORMAL
BULLISHPOSITIVE
OpenGamma Intelligence · Schema v1.1.0This brief is not investment advice.