Where are the dealer gamma walls on SPY, QQQ and IWM?
Data through 2026-09-22 · updated after each US close · free to read · by Daniel, The Philosopher Investor
At the 2026-09-22 close, SPY sat at 774.23 between a put wall at 750 and a call wall at 785, 69% of the way up that range, with dealers in negative gamma, which amplifies moves. Across 942 option books with a readable sign, 70% were in positive dealer gamma. Walls move as open interest rolls, so read this as yesterday's map.
Where are the walls on each index?
- Call wall785 +1.4%
- Put wall750 −3.1%
- Zero gamma635
- Position in range69%
- Dealer gammanegative
- Call wall760 +1.8%
- Put wall700 −6.3%
- Zero gamma632
- Position in range78%
- Dealer gammapositive
- Call wall300 +4.4%
- Put wall280 −2.6%
- Zero gamma288
- Position in range37%
- Dealer gammanegative
How many option books sit in positive gamma?
70% of the 942 option books with a readable sign were in positive dealer gamma at the 2026-09-22 close (658 positive, 284 negative). A high share means hedging leans against moves across the tape; a falling share means more names where hedging adds to them.
Built from open interest by strike at the close shown. The members' desk carries the same map for hundreds of single names, with the names pinned between their walls, pressing a wall, or sitting in negative gamma.
Common questions
- What is a dealer gamma map?
- An estimate of how market makers are positioned in an index's options, from open interest by strike. Where a lot of gamma sits, their hedging pushes against moves; where it flips negative, hedging pushes with them.
- What are the call wall and the put wall?
- The strikes above and below the spot where the most gamma is concentrated. Price tends to slow near a wall and to move faster once it breaks through, because dealer hedging changes direction there.
- What does the zero gamma level mean?
- The price where dealer positioning flips from positive to negative gamma. Above it, hedging tends to compress moves; below it, hedging tends to add to them.
- Is this real time?
- No. The map is rebuilt after each close from that day's open interest. The members' desk shows the same map for hundreds of single names, with the names pinned between their walls and the ones sitting in negative gamma.
- How often do the walls move?
- Most days a little, and a lot around monthly expiration, when the open interest that built the walls expires and new strikes take over.
- What does it mean when SPY sits near the call wall?
- Dealer hedging tends to sell into the level, so rallies stall there more often than not. A clean break above it usually comes with a burst of buying as hedges flip, which is why the wall matters more the closer price gets.
- What share of names being in positive gamma is normal?
- It swings widely. Above roughly two thirds the tape tends to grind; below half, moves extend. The number shown above is yesterday's reading, so compare it with the days before rather than with a fixed threshold.
- Can I see the gamma map for a single stock?
- Yes. Each published ticker has a gamma angle at /stock/<ticker>/gamma with its sign, its recent flips and how it compares with the index.