The expiration desk: the Gamma Stream ladder is the hero (walls, regime, per-strike dealer positioning), the expiration calendar + put/call ratio left, the chart under the hero, and the vol complex right — term structure over the realized-vol cone with the forecast tabbed — for quad-witch and monthly opex
The expiration desk: the Gamma Stream ladder is the hero (walls, regime, per-strike dealer positioning), the expiration calendar + put/call ratio left, the chart under the hero, and the vol complex right — term structure over the realized-vol cone with the forecast tabbed — for quad-witch and monthly opex
Use it when: Monthly opex, quad-witch, and VIX settlement. Load it the day before - the positioning that decides Friday is visible on Thursday.
On a big expiration, open interest stops being a statistic and starts being a force. Strikes with real size behave like magnets into the settle, and then stop existing the moment the options do.
The Gamma Stream ladder is the hero for a reason: it shows per-strike dealer positioning, which is what decides whether ES gets pinned into a strike or released through it.
Same mechanics, thinner book. A pin that holds on ES can fail on NQ against the same relative size.
Crude has its own expiration schedule and is not part of the index quad-witch this desk is arranged around.
Presets in the menu bar, under the category this desk belongs to — one click applies the whole layout, and a checkmark tracks which one is active.Ctrl+P, which finds it by name.Add Panel menu.The tell: The trade is usually not the pin - it is the release. Positioning that held price all week stops existing at the settle, and the range that felt broken on Friday afternoon frequently is by Monday.
8 panels, read straight from the preset definition in the desktop build:
These desks assume the theory. If any of it is unfamiliar, the background reading is on the learn side: