★ King strike

The single biggest strike by size in each date column - regardless of sign. Its cell is framed in gold with a star inside; the bar (or fill) still shows the real value, so the king can land on a green or red cell. A dominant put wall can make the king the most-negative cell - the star marks magnitude, not direction.

▲▼ Movers (GEX only)

Up to 5 cells whose net gamma changed most since the last refresh: ▲ moved more positive, ▼ moved more negative. Intraday this shows the board’s gamma concentration shifting as price and vol move — which levels are becoming live — not fresh buying or selling: open interest updates only once daily (overnight), so within a session positions are frozen and only the greeks move. The first refresh of a new session includes the overnight OI update. 15-min delayed, not tick-by-tick.

GEX (gamma) - sticky vs slippery

Positive: dealers dampen moves. Price gets pinned toward the walls. Calm, range-bound.

Negative: dealers amplify moves. Drops and rallies accelerate. Fast, trending, volatile.

Gamma flip - the waterline

The price that separates the two regimes - it is about which side you are on:

Above the flip -> positive / pinned / calm.
Below the flip -> negative / accelerating / volatile.

Falling through it from above = sticky turning slippery; rising back = the reverse. It is a transition zone, not a hard switch - right at the line is the whippiest spot, and the level moves as the feed updates.

VEX (vanna) - how vol moves price

Positive: if volatility falls, it supports price (gentle tailwind up).

Negative: if volatility rises (fear), it adds downside pressure.

Exp move (Impulse header)

The range the options market is pricing for the nearest expiry - ~1 standard deviation: in theory price holds inside it ~2/3 of the time. The chip shows the expiry date and days left: about one day for indices (SPX/SPY/QQQ), out to Friday for most single stocks. Handy for judging whether a wall is realistically in reach.

Key levels

The 3 strikes with the strongest dealer-gamma concentration near spot - ranked by size, not by probability - across all expiry columns currently shown (your 'cols' setting), not just today. They are the strongest levels, not a forecast that price lands there.

What they mean depends on the regime: in a positive / pinning regime they act as magnets (price drawn toward them); in a negative / trending regime they are accelerant zones (price pushed through fast).

Bright = inside today's expected-move band (reachable near-term); dim = further out / structural. #1 is usually your King strike - this row just collapses the board into one ranked shortlist.

Thin band (faint tint)

A faint shaded band with a soft left rail marks a run of strikes between the walls where net gamma is near zero relative to the board - i.e. little dealer positioning there. Less hedging sits in the way, so there is less to dampen a move through that stretch. It is a structural observation about where positioning is light, not a prediction that price will go there or move fast - there is always some liquidity.

The +/- sign

Calls count positive, puts count negative - so a heavy put wall shows as a large negative value. Negative is not bad; it shows where the puts are stacked.