Daily levels on
NQ and ES.

01 — WHY THESE TWOLiquidity makes structure visible

Dealer gamma is a function of the options chain, and the chain is only meaningful where volume is. NQ and ES carry some of the deepest index-option volume in the world, so the gamma map on them is dense and well-populated, and the hedging behind each strike is real size rather than a handful of contracts.

That also makes them a good place to learn the method. The families are the same every session — gamma, pivots, value areas, VWAP, prior periods, expected move — and the levels update once a day, so there is no scramble to recompute mid-session. You mark the map before the open and then trade your own plan against it.

02 — THE MAPWhat a daily level set gives you

The set is a small number of lines with distinct roles. The gamma flip tells you which regime you are in. The call and put walls are the heavy gamma strikes. Value areas (VAH, VAL, POC) mark where volume actually traded yesterday, and the session's developing values update as today's volume builds. VWAP and its bands give a volume-weighted fair value. Pivots offer five well-known systems of support and resistance. The expected move frames how far a normal session might travel.

Together they answer three questions before you place a single trade: where is the balance, where are the extremes, and what would count as unusual. That is context. What you do with it is your plan, your risk and your sizing — none of which a level set can decide for you.

03 — A WORKFLOWBefore, during, after

1. Before the open. Load the day's levels and mark the flip, the walls and the expected-move band. Note which levels cluster — when several families land within a tight band, expect a more meaningful decision there.
2. At the open. Watch the first reaction at the nearest level. A clean hold, a wick, and a close-through are different events; the level is the same, the message is not.
3. During the session. Use the levels as reference points for structure, not as entry triggers. If price is above the flip and inside value, the read is balance; if it is below the flip and outside value, the read is expansion.
4. After the close. Log which levels produced a reaction and which were ignored. That record is the only way to build judgement — and it is exactly what SPECTRE keeps for every published level.

04 — CONTEXT, NOT CALLSWhat we will not do

SPECTRE publishes structure, not entries. We will not tell you to buy or sell, we will not give a stop or a target, and we will not market a win rate. The levels are derived from public data, published in advance and timestamped, then scored against what the tape actually did. That is a research product — and it is deliberately the opposite of a signal service.

Start with the intro to gamma levels, or read how the levels are built on the methodology page.