Start in Stock
Stock brings one symbol’s price, options exposure and key levels together with market-wide breadth. It provides a complete workspace for reading price action alongside positioning and the wider market.
The symbol dropdown selects the ticker. The price chart shows its candles for the selected timeframe, HP → Levels → Key Levels places levels directly on price, and HP → Profile → Exposure Profile shows exposure by strike alongside the candles. Changing candle length is different from changing the option expiration scope.
The first time you open a workspace, choose Classic or Symbol columns. The steps below work in both; Workspace layouts explains the difference.
Start the interactive guide. It begins in Stock and follows the workspace sequence below. You can also choose a shorter guide from Start here. Features depend on your plan and availability.
1. Check market internals
Breadth shows whether many stocks are participating in the move.
- TICK: stocks trading on upticks minus downticks.
- A/D: advancing stocks minus declining stocks.
- A/D Volume: advancing share volume minus declining share volume.
The TICK Matrix header opens current-session history, showing how market-wide buying and selling pressure developed. This adds context beyond one symbol’s move. One extreme reading does not establish a trend.
2. Set the expiration scope
Scope selects which option expirations feed the exposure view. A preset chooses a defined group. Manual uses your selected start and end expiration dates.
The price chart's 1m, 5m or 1h setting chooses candle length. It does not change expiration scope.
Volume is the volume for today’s trading session across all expirations within the selected scope.
Weekly does not mean a week's accumulated volume. Volume is not limited to options expiring today. If the panel shows As of an earlier date, read it as that session's data.
Some symbols have no contracts expiring today. With 0DTE selected, the panel says so and offers Show nearest expiration. Once shown, it is tagged No 0DTE today · showing that date, and Back to 0DTE returns to the empty view. Your 0DTE scope stays selected either way.
3. Read the histograms and totals
GEX means gamma exposure. Histogram bars show how exposure is distributed by strike.
| Display | What to inspect |
|---|---|
| OI | Exposure based on stored open contracts |
| Volume | Exposure based on session traded volume |
| Histogram | Which strikes carry the exposure |
| Total bar | The net balance of the corresponding histogram series |
The total's color shows positive or negative direction. Its percentage is absolute net ÷ gross exposure. Gross adds the sizes of positive and negative values without canceling them.
Example: +60 and -40 give net +20 and gross 100. The total bar reads 20%. A small net can hide large opposing exposures.
The largest OI and Volume bars show concentrations of exposure; the totals summarize the net balance. Comparing them under the same symbol and scope keeps the views consistent. Exposure values are not raw contract counts or proof that options were bought.
To see how the bars moved, press the clock button in a histogram's header. Dots mark where each bar was 5, 15 and 30 minutes ago; change the times or the style in Histogram settings. How earlier values work.
4. Locate price beside key levels
| Level | Meaning |
|---|---|
| PG | Strongest positive gamma strike |
| ZG | Calculated zero-gamma transition |
| NG | Strongest negative gamma strike |
These levels make price’s location and nearby exposure references easier to see. They do not guarantee support or resistance.
On the price chart, open HP, then the Levels tab, and click Key Levels. Compare the chart with the levels shown and hidden.
Next, open the Profile tab and toggle Exposure Profile. Compare its OI and Volume bases. Keep only the overlays that help you read price.
5. Set up Market Monitor
Scroll down to Market Monitor. It puts several symbols in a compact table.
The monitor's presets choose its columns. Levels shows a level rail with NG, ZG, PG and the weekly Expected Move. Exposure adds DEX OI and the other exposure columns, putting watchlist comparisons in one table.
The FTFC chip beside each symbol summarizes the timeframes from one minute through monthly. ▲ FTFC or ▼ FTFC means they all agree, a count such as 7/8 means most agree, and Mixed means they differ. Hover the chip to see each timeframe's STRAT state. Decode STRAT labels.
6. Compare performance and inspect the GEX profile
The Compare button beneath the sector and index percentage-change list opens a historical performance chart. Select symbols and a common period to see which led or lagged. Percentage change describes price performance; it is different from exposure and STRAT state.
Continue down to the GEX profile. Compare the distribution by strike with the price chart and key levels. Keep the symbol, expiration scope and session in mind when comparing panels.
7. Compare symbols side by side
- Index²: paired SPY and QQQ price, level and exposure views make it easier to see whether the broad market and Nasdaq are moving together or diverging.
- Index: one index or ETF with its futures equivalent, such as SPY with /ES.
- Stocks²: two independently selected stocks, such as AAPL and MSFT or NVDA and AMD, keep individual-name comparisons visible in one workspace.
Use comparable timeframes and expiration scopes. The purpose is to spot similarities and differences without continually switching one chart.
8. Build your own Terminal
Terminal combines your preferred tools in a workspace you control. Panels can share a symbol or display independent symbols, reducing the need to switch views. Add tool manages the panels, dragging and resizing controls their arrangement, and Setups saves and loads named layouts.
9. Find candidates with STRAT
STRAT scans candle structure across symbols and timeframes, helping you find candidates without opening every chart. Scans narrows the table by STRAT, level, exposure and other conditions; for example, a 15m 2↑ scan shows matching rows. Show filters by continuity: Full green, Full red or Mixed. Clicking a header sorts the table, and Level sort switches level columns between value, above and below. An empty result means no rows match the current selection.
Learn what the STRAT labels mean.
10. Study changes, then set an alert
- Flow shows aggregate exposure over time alongside price, making changes through the available history easier to follow. Its controls select the symbol, expiration, range and basis, plus how steady the levels look and whether contracts show as calls and puts or Net. Flow guide.
- Replay revisits an available stored session so you can study how price, profiles and levels developed at your own pace. Play, step, speed and timeline controls let you inspect the sequence around a move. Replay guide.
- Alerts monitors configured PG, NG, ZG or expected-move targets across a watchlist or selected symbols, reducing the need to keep checking every chart. Pick the levels to watch, then Trigger, Source and Frequency define the rule; Save Alert activates it.
The walkthrough skips workspaces unavailable to your plan. You can return to any available guide from Start here.
Each workspace serves a different part of the workflow: understand one symbol, compare markets, arrange tools, scan setups, study changes and monitor selected levels.
Start here lets you resume or restart. Progress stays in this browser. Platform setup is optional.