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How to Read Recon
Read the SPY, SPX and QQQ gamma ladder: what each mark means, three common setups, and a worked example from a real session.
Recon shows dealer gamma at each strike for SPY, SPX and QQQ, side by side. Use it to see where dealer hedging is likely to slow price down, where it is likely to speed price up, and whether the three markets agree.
This guide explains how to read a ladder, what the three most common setups look like, and how one real session played out. Recon is available on Professional and higher plans.
Read the ladder
Each row is a strike. The row with an outline is the current price. Rows above it are higher strikes, and rows below it are lower strikes.
- 7755 Green: dealers trade against the move
- 7745 ◆ Peak: largest absolute value
- 7730 C: call wall
- 7715 Outlined row: current price
- 7705 P: put wall
- 7690 Red: dealers trade with the move
The ladder uses five marks:
- Green rows have positive dealer gamma. Dealers hedge against the move there. They sell as price rises and buy as it falls, which tends to slow price down.
- Red rows have negative dealer gamma. Dealers hedge in the same direction as the move, which tends to make it run.
- ◆ Peak marks the row with the largest absolute value on the ladder. It can be green or red.
- C and P mark the call wall and the put wall.
- The outlined row is the current price. Read every other row relative to it.
Color intensity scales with size. A pale row matters less than a saturated one.
What the numbers mean
Each value is the dealer gamma exposure at that strike, in dollars. It approximates how much stock dealers need to buy or sell to stay hedged as price moves through the strike. It is not volume and it is not open interest.
Recon updates through the session, so watch how rows change as well as how large they are:
- A row that grows means dealers are adding exposure there. The level tends to hold better.
- A row that shrinks means hedges are coming off. The level matters less.
- A row that changes sign means positioning changed. Price often reacts near it.
- A cluster of large rows tends to hold price inside the zone.
- A stretch of small rows offers little resistance, so price can move through it quickly.
Compare the three markets
Recon aligns SPY, SPX and QQQ on their current-price rows. This lets you check whether the three markets point the same way before you act on one of them.
When all three columns show the same structure, the read is stronger. When one market disagrees with the other two, treat the read as weaker. Trade smaller or wait.
Start with the peak
To read a ladder quickly, find the ◆ peak first. Then look at the rows between the peak and the current price.
- A green peak above price often acts as a target. Price tends to drift toward it and stall when it arrives.
- A large red stack below price means a decline can extend. There is little positive gamma to absorb selling.
- The rows between price and the peak decide how easily price gets there. Small rows mean little resistance. Large rows mean price has to work through them.
Common setups
These three patterns appear often. The figures use example data.
Range
Large green rows sit above and below the current price, with small rows between them.
- 110 Upper wall
- 106 Price chops in the gap
- 102 Lower wall
Dealers sell near the upper wall and buy near the lower wall, so price tends to move back and forth. Fading moves toward either wall usually works better than buying breakouts. Wait for one of the walls to shrink before you trade a breakout.
Trapdoor
A green row caps price from above, and red rows stack up below the current price.
- 110 Cap
- 107 Negative stack starts
If price moves below the cap, dealers sell into the decline and the move tends to continue. A short bias is reasonable until a green row appears below price to act as a floor.
Air pocket
Small rows sit between the current price and one large node.
- 109 Target
- 107 Little in the way
There is little to slow price on the way to the node, so moves toward it can be fast. Enter before the move starts and take profit near the node, where price tends to stall.
Example: SPX on September 25, 2026
At 10:58 AM ET, SPX was at 7715. The peak was 30 points higher at 7745, with +$2.1B of dealer gamma. The 7720 row was small at +280M, and the rows from 7725 to 7750 were large and green. This is an air pocket with a green peak above price.
SPY and QQQ showed the same structure. Their peaks were at 770 and 746, both above the current price.
Price did not move right away. SPY stayed near 768 for about an hour. At 11:55 AM ET it started to rise, crossed its 770 peak at 12:02 PM ET, and reached 771.4 by 12:08 PM ET. SPX reached 7745 in the same window.
A 0DTE SPX 7745 call bought at $2.90 after the 10:58 read traded as high as $13.00 that afternoon. This is one session and one trade. The same setup can fail, and 0DTE options often expire worthless.
Best practices
- Don't chase late. If price has already covered most of the distance to the peak, most of the opportunity is gone.
- Let the open settle. Positioning shifts a lot in the first 30 to 60 minutes and again near the close.
- Expect stronger effects on expiration days. On 0DTE-heavy sessions, green rows hold price harder and red rows move it faster.
- Use a chart for timing. Recon shows where price is likely to go, not when. On September 25, the move started an hour after the read.
Limitations
Recon reflects options positioning. It does not account for news, macro events, or large orders that change the structure during the session. It does not show your risk, your fills, or your position size.