Levels · 2026 · September · 16
NQ and gold GEX levels for September 16, 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 | 29,407.80NQ index points | —this is the reference price | −57.70index points since the previous archived run |
| Call wall | 29,885.50NQ index points | +477.70index points · 1,911 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −36.30index points · 145 ticks |
| Gamma flip | 29,541.00NQ index points | +133.20index points · 533 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −213.30index points · 853 ticks |
| Put wall | 29,055.40NQ index points | −352.40index points · 1,410 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −35.20index points · 141 ticks |
| Peak gamma strike | 29,055.40NQ index points | −352.40index points · 1,410 ticks · 0.25 points per tick | −35.20index points · 141 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 | Unchangedsame as the previous archived session |
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 | 4,387.80US dollars per ounce | —this is the reference price | +56.40dollars per ounce since the previous archived run |
| Call wall | 4,559.80US dollars per ounce | +172.00dollars per ounce · 1,720 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −25.00dollars per ounce · 250 ticks |
| Gamma flip | 4,295.20US dollars per ounce | −92.60dollars per ounce · 926 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | +12.90dollars per ounce · 129 ticks |
| Put wall | 4,285.10US dollars per ounce | −102.70dollars per ounce · 1,027 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −23.50dollars per ounce · 235 ticks |
| Peak gamma strike | 4,559.80US dollars per ounce | +172.00dollars per ounce · 1,720 ticks · 0.10 dollars per tick | −25.00dollars per ounce · 250 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 | 29,632.90NQ index points | 29,893.60NQ index points | 29,063.20NQ index points |
| NQ · 14:00 ET | 29,628.00NQ index points | 29,886.00NQ index points | 29,056.00NQ index points |
| GC · 11:00 ET | 4,274.00US dollars per ounce | 4,575.10US dollars per ounce | 4,299.50US dollars per ounce |
| GC · 14:00 ET | 4,273.00US dollars per ounce | 4,571.00US dollars per ounce | 4,296.00US 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 zone
What was on the chart, and what it did
These are the supply and demand zones the indicator had drawn on the Nasdaq-100 chart that session, with the grade each one carried when the chart was read. The grade is decided before price arrives, which is the only order in which it means anything; what the grade describes, and what it cannot, is on the Zone Score page. Near and far edge are stated against the contract price below, which is the reading that placed each zone above or below it.
- The contract when these zones were placed
- 29,475.00 NQ index points, read at 14:00 Eastern.
- The zone the contract was trading inside
- 29,406.50 to 29,593.75 NQ index points. Graded 1.5 out of 7. The contract was inside it when the zone was read, so neither edge was the one facing price.
- The nearest supply above the contract
- near edge 29,528.25, far edge 29,593.75 NQ index points. Graded 3.5 out of 7.
- The nearest demand below the contract
- near edge 29,439.00, far edge 29,410.00 NQ index points. Graded 1 out of 7.
What each zone did in the sessions that followed, read on 15-minute bars
| Session | Zone | What happened |
|---|---|---|
| the supply above | broke through: a bar closed beyond the far edge at 07:45, at 29,620.00 NQ index points | |
| the demand below | broke through: a bar closed beyond the far edge at 18:00, at 29,281.25 NQ index points | |
| the supply above | broke through: a bar closed beyond the far edge at 18:00, at 29,704.25 NQ index points | |
| the demand below | not reached: no wick reached the near edge | |
| the supply above | broke through: a bar closed beyond the far edge at 18:00, at 29,996.50 NQ index points | |
| the demand below | not reached: no wick reached the near edge |
A touch is a wick, a break is a close: a bar that pokes through the far edge decides nothing, a bar that closes beyond it decides everything. Lines are added as the sessions happen and are never rewritten.
04 / The episode
What was said that morning
The two-minute market prep recorded for this session is NQ Gamma Map — September 16, 2026, 2:12 long, on YouTube. Nothing plays on this page: it is a link, not an embed. The full list is on the market prep page.
05 / 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 41.508 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 10.987 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.
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