Levels · 2026 · August · 18
NQ and gold GEX levels for August 18, 2026
The option-positioning levels that were on the desk before the New York open on , for Nasdaq-100 and gold futures, kept exactly as they were computed.
01 / The pre-open run
What the chain said before the open
Read at 08:00 New York time, before the cash open. The fourth column is the part no page about the current session can carry: what each level did against the previous session in the archive.
Nasdaq-100 futures · NQ · one tick = 0.25 points per tick
| Level | Price | Distance from the contract | Change from the previous archived session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract at the run | 29,768.50NQ index points | —this is the reference price | −538.30index points since the previous archived run |
| Call wall | 30,310.80NQ index points | +542.30index points · 2,169 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −453.30index points · 1,813 ticks |
| Gamma flip | 29,877.40NQ index points | +108.90index points · 436 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | +79.90index points · 320 ticks |
| Put wall | 29,692.20NQ index points | −76.30index points · 305 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | +2,254.00index points · 9,016 ticks |
| Peak gamma strike | 29,692.20NQ index points | −76.30index points · 305 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −1,071.90index points · 4,288 ticks |
| Max pain | —no usable strike in this run | —no distance without both prices | —no earlier session archived |
| Regime | Negative gammastate of dealer hedging, not a direction | —a state, not a distance | Positive gamma → Negative gammathe regime changed |
Derived from listed QQQ option positioning · all levels within the plausible band
Gold futures · GC · one tick = 0.10 dollars per tick
| Level | Price | Distance from the contract | Change from the previous archived session |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract at the run | 4,449.00US dollars per ounce | —this is the reference price | −4.50dollars per ounce since the previous archived run |
| Call wall | 4,637.80US dollars per ounce | +188.80dollars per ounce · 1,888 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −18.60dollars per ounce · 186 ticks |
| Gamma flip | 4,118.90US dollars per ounce | −330.10dollars per ounce · 3,301 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −12.00dollars per ounce · 120 ticks |
| Put wall | 3,864.90US dollars per ounce | −584.10dollars per ounce · 5,841 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −15.40dollars per ounce · 154 ticks |
| Peak gamma strike | 4,637.80US dollars per ounce | +188.80dollars per ounce · 1,888 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −18.60dollars per ounce · 186 ticks |
| Max pain | —no usable strike in this run | —no distance without both prices | —no earlier session archived |
| Regime | Positive gammastate of dealer hedging, not a direction | —a state, not a distance | Unchangedsame as the previous archived session |
Derived from listed GLD option positioning · all levels within the plausible band
02 / Later runs
The same session, read again at 11:00 and 14:00
Positioning moves during a session; these are the later reads of the same chain
| Contract and run | Gamma flip | Call wall | Put wall |
|---|---|---|---|
| NQ · 11:00 ET | 29,846.20NQ index points | 30,360.50NQ index points | 27,262.50NQ index points |
| NQ · 14:00 ET | 29,868.60NQ index points | 30,326.60NQ index points | 29,583.90NQ index points |
| GC · 11:00 ET | 4,130.80US dollars per ounce | 4,651.50US dollars per ounce | 3,876.20US dollars per ounce |
| GC · 14:00 ET | 4,125.50US dollars per ounce | 4,638.50US dollars per ounce | 3,865.50US dollars per ounce |
Three runs, three timestamps taken from the data files themselves. None of them was recorded while the session was open to the reader.
03 / The episode
What was said that morning
No episode was recorded for this session. The episodes that do exist are on the market prep page.
04 / Provenance
Where these numbers came from
Every level on this page is a strike of a listed option chain, converted to the futures contract with the ratio between the two at the moment of the run. The mechanism, and what it cannot do, is on the page that explains these levels. What the archive holds, which sessions are missing from it and why, is on the record. If you want the method the zones come from, it is how I learned to grade a zone.
- Nasdaq-100 futures
- ratio 41.239 NQ index points per 1.00 US dollar of QQQ; the fund's print was not archived for this session; put/call not archived for this session; net gamma exposure not archived for this session.
- Gold futures
- ratio 11.042 US dollars per ounce per 1.00 US dollar of GLD; the fund's print was not archived for this session; put/call not archived for this session; net gamma exposure not archived for this session.
- Archived from
- The run of , kept as computed and not revised since.
- What is missing, and why
- Until 16 September 2026 the pipeline overwrote its own files every run, so the sessions before that date survive only through the morning log, which recorded the four levels, the ratio and the contract price and nothing else. The missing fields are named as missing rather than estimated.
← Previous session · 17 August 2026 August 2026, session by session Next session · 19 August 2026 →