@KTTECHPRIVATE Hi KT - Great callout EoD yesterday! QQ: How often do you check your Support mail inbox...have a couple messages / questions in there for you?
$MSFT Called the $400 zone as low risk entry price sitting right on multi-touch support with a tight stop.
We're now at $420s.
But the real move hasn't started yet.
$425โ$430 is a major resistance zone
Price is currently compressing inside a falling wedge right into that level.
Break and hold above $425โ$430?
That's a full structure shift. Resistance flips to support and the next leg targets $450+
Risk was defined. Level was clear. Now we wait for confirmation
๐จ๐จALERT | SPY OPEX GAMMA DECAY | Friday May 8
Today's 2 PM snapshot showed record GEX of +$1.39B. By 4 PM, 27.9% of the gamma cushion expired.
$737.62 close. SPY rallied 2.4% this week. The gamma blanket kept thinning anyway.
Friday's weekly OPEX drained 27.9% of the gamma cushion. 1.75M gamma shares and 25.58M delta shares expired tonight. That's nearly identical to last Friday's 25.5% rolloff. Two consecutive weeks of quarter-plus gamma loss.
What survived: +4.51M net gamma. Still positive. Still suppressing. But the cushion was 6.26M this morning.
May 15 is 7 days away.
Monthly OPEX carries 24.3% of remaining gamma. 3.96M contracts. 1.10M gamma shares sitting on a single expiration. When that rolls off, 59.4% of the gamma that existed this morning is gone.
The math after May 15: surviving gamma drops to +2.54M. That's the thinnest gamma blanket since the rally started in mid-April.
The rally doesn't change the structure. Price moved higher but the options-based suppression that keeps ranges tight is decaying on schedule. Higher price with thinner gamma means the NEXT selloff, whenever it comes, has less structural resistance to fight through.
Volatility stays compressed until the cushion is gone. When it's gone, the range expands whether the move is up or down.
May 15 is the structural cliff. The calendar doesn't care about the rally.
$SPY $QQQ $VIX $SPX
Nearing the apex of a rising wedge on SPY so it does seem like time is short. Though There is still 1.3BLN of net call gex at 740 which is right at the tip of the apex, so it's possible we get an overthrow or grind up inside that gets us there before the wedge breaks and we get meaningful downside.
๐จ๐จ๐จSPY PATTERN ALERT | Wednesday May 6
Rising Wedge confirmed. 7/7 criteria. STRONG. The first confirmed bearish pattern of the entire cycle.
We don't publish pattern alerts unless every criterion passes. This one passed all seven:
Rising highs. Rising lows. Lows converging faster than highs. Upper trendline R-squared: 1.000. Lower trendline R-squared: 0.988. Two upper touches. Three lower touches. Textbook.
THE HISTORY:
67 prior rising wedges on SPY (COVID excluded) in the last ~7 years. 73.1% resulted in a decline of 2% or more. Average decline: -6.23%. Average time to max decline: 20.8 days. Average adverse move before the decline: +6.42%.
Read that last number carefully. The average adverse move is +6.42%. That means historically, price pushed HIGHER after the wedge formed before rolling over. A rising wedge doesn't mean "sell now." It means the structure is tightening and a breakdown is statistically likely within three weeks.
THE WEDGE:
Look at the last 15 trading days. Highs rising slowly: $712 to $715 to $719 to $724 to $732. Lows rising faster: $698 to $702 to $708 to $714 to $720 to $727. The range is compressing. The channel is narrowing. That's the wedge.
Breakdown level: $732.28. We're sitting on it. Price closed at $732.54 today. We're either breaking down from here or pushing through for one more leg before the pattern resolves.
WHY THIS MATTERS RIGHT NOW:
The pattern is saying one thing. The flow is saying the opposite.
Today's structure was the strongest non-event-day reading we've ever published. GEX at +$1.36B. Dealers short 191M shares. +83.5M of bullish flow. +$816M into calls. Not a single accelerator in the top 10. Every metric screams higher.
A 7/7 rising wedge says the probability of a 2%+ decline within three weeks is 73.1%.
Both can be true. The average adverse move of +6.42% means the market often pushes higher first. The mechanics support that push. The $740 and $750 magnets are there. The grind could continue for days or weeks before the wedge resolves.
But the wedge is the first structural warning from the price action itself, independent of the options flow. The flow can change in an afternoon. We saw that Monday when GEX collapsed $547M in three hours. The wedge says the price structure is tightening regardless of what the flow does on any given day.
WHAT A -6.23% DECLINE LOOKS LIKE FROM HERE:
From $732: target zone is $686. That's below the GEX flip at $711. Below the $700 accelerator at -$93M. Below the $690 accelerator. Into the densest put OI cluster in the chain ($700 at 391K contracts).
We're not predicting that outcome. We're saying the pattern's historical average points there, and the options structure below $711 confirms that's where the accelerators would carry price if the breakdown materializes.
WHAT TO DO WITH THIS:
Nothing changes today. The composite is lean bullish. The flow is strong. The mechanics support the grind. We are not telling anyone to sell.
We are telling you this pattern exists. It scored 7/7. The history says 73% odds of a 2%+ decline within three weeks. The flow says not yet. Both are on the record.
When we published the shooting star Friday, it failed validation on the strict model. This one passed every test. The difference matters.
Monitor the $732 breakdown level. If price closes below $732 on consecutive sessions with deteriorating flow, the pattern is activating. If price pushes to $740+ on strong flow, the adverse move is playing out and the breakdown gets deferred, not cancelled.
The mechanics say ride the grind. The pattern says the grind has a ceiling. Respect both.
$SPY $QQQ $SPX
Paul Tudor Jones says the US is more dependent on equity prices than ever, and explains what a 35% correction would trigger in the economy:
"We're 252% of stock market cap to GDP. In 1929 we were 65%. In 1987 we got to ~85-90%. In 2000, 170%.
If you think about the periodicity of significant bear markets. Since 1970, we get a mean reversion about every 10 years.
Let's say mean revert to the past 25 or 30-year PE. That would be a 30, 35% decline. Well, 35% on 250% of GDP is 80, 90% of GDP.
10% of our tax revenues are capital gains, they go to zero. So you can see the budget deficit blowing up. You can see the bond market getting smoked. You can see this kind of negative self-reinforcing effect.
In the stock market, we're over-equitized as a country. We have the highest individual equity weightings in the history of the country.
And then the real problem is if you look at private equity in 2007-2008, that was about 7% of institutional portfolios. Now it's about 16% of the institutional portfolios. We're so much more illiquid than we were in 2008.
The problem is that if you buy the S&P at this current valuation, the 10-year forward return is negative when you buy the S&P with a PE of 22. That's what history shows.
So yes, the S&P is spectacular long-term, if you have a hundred-year view. But that's because that's an average of a hundred years, including times when the S&P 500 PE was 6, 7 and 8, or one third of what it is right now.
Valuation matters a lot, and the stock market's really high and it's gonna be really hard to make money from here with any kind of long-term view."
SPY UPDATE | Tuesday April 28, 10:15 AM
$711.62. Down 0.50%. Pulled back from yesterday's all-time high. One day from FOMC + mega-cap earnings.
Composite: -2.7 [Neutral]
The dip is small. The question from our readers is whether to buy it. Here's what the data says.
THE NEAR-TERM STRUCTURE:
Price is sitting between a magnet and an accelerator.
$715: +$94M magnet. 0.5% above. Pulling up.
$710: -$90M accelerator. 0.2% below. Pulling down.
That's $184M of opposing force separated by $5. The structure is a tug of war right at price. Whoever wins this battle sets the direction into tomorrow's close.
$712 accelerator at -$53M is directly at price. $713 at -$31M is 0.2% above. We're inside the accelerator zone, not above it. That means dips get amplified from here, not absorbed.
Near-term GEX: +$19M. Barely positive. Functionally zero. No suppression, no amplification. The market moves freely.
THE FULL-CHAIN PICTURE (from yesterday):
Dealers short 130.8M shares across the full chain. That hasn't changed overnight. They're still buying dips at scale. The near-term snapshot shows a smaller slice, but the macro engine is intact.
Full-chain GEX was +$356M yesterday. Positive. The broader structure is still suppressive. The near-term volatility is happening inside a supportive macro frame.
GEX flip: $641-$643. 9.7% below. The deepest cushion of the cycle. A 10% crash is needed to break the floor. That's not in play heading into earnings.
IS THE DIP BUYABLE?
The case for yes:
Dealers short 130M shares across the full chain. Every dip triggers buying. The macro engine is intact.
$715 magnet at +$94M is right above. If price reclaims $713, the magnet pulls. That's only 0.2% from here.
IV at 18.5% is above realized (17.8%). Options are slightly expensive. If earnings deliver tomorrow and vol crushes, vanna forces dealer buying. The snap-back mechanic we've seen three times this cycle is loaded again.
GEX flip at $641 gives 9.7% of cushion. The floor is so far away that a normal pre-earnings dip doesn't threaten the structural integrity.
Call VWAS at $716 is targeting HIGHER strikes than legacy OI. New call positions are reaching up, not down. That's a bullish positioning shift.
The case for caution:
$710 accelerator at -$90M is 0.2% below price. If this level breaks, the chain reaction fires to $703 (-$24M) and $700 (-$76M from yesterday's full chain). The trapdoor is close.
Daily flow: -1.5M shares. Slightly bearish. Nobody is aggressively buying this dip yet.
IV expanding from 16.6% to 18.5% in two days means the market is pricing more risk, not less. If earnings disappoint, vol expands further and vanna works against you.
Tomorrow is the most concentrated catalyst of the year. Buying today means holding through FOMC at 2 PM and four mega-cap earnings after the close. The overnight risk is extreme in both directions.
OUR READ:
The dip is buyable for a swing into Wednesday morning. The macro structure supports it. Dealers are buying. The $715 magnet is close. The floor is far.
But sizing matters. This isn't a conviction entry. It's a positioning entry ahead of a binary event. Small size. Defined risk. Accept that Wednesday evening could move the market 2-3% in either direction.
The dip is NOT buyable as a "this is the low" entry with full conviction. The accelerators at $710-$712 are too close. The earnings risk is too concentrated. And the composite at -2.7 is telling you the near-term structure doesn't confirm the bullish thesis.
The bottom line:
Buy the dip small if you have a plan for Wednesday. Don't buy the dip if you're hoping the all-time high holds on faith.
$715 is the magnet. $710 is the accelerator. $703 is the trapdoor. Tomorrow decides.
$SPY $QQQ $VIX
I am not a bull or bear. I am profit-biased.
I am on Team Price, Volume, Levels, and Trend.
I trade the chart not my heart.
Some of you are too emotionally attached to externalities.
Only price pays.
U.S. farm bankruptcies surged +46% in 2025.
Fertilizer prices are exploding higher.
The chart above shows urea (the most important nitrogen fertilizer) breaking above $720 per tonne โ well into the unprofitable zone for many corn growers.
Farmers are being squeezed from both sides: higher input costs and pressure on yields.
The food supply chain is starting to feel the strain.
Physics > Paper. ๐ฅ
SPY OPEN | Tuesday April 21
$709.92. Up 0.17%. Sitting on the 30-day high. 36 hours from the deadline.
Composite: +24.9 [Lean Bullish]
Yesterday we published a -0.8 neutral reading. Today it's +24.9. The composite swung 25 points overnight without price moving. The structure is pricing talks, not war.
Here's what changed:
Vance is departing today for Islamabad with Witkoff and Kushner. CNN sources say an Iranian delegation is also expected to arrive in Pakistan today. Round 2 is happening. Iran publicly denied it for days, but the planes are in the air.
Talks are planned for Wednesday in Islamabad. The ceasefire expires Wednesday evening per Trump's updated timeline. That gives them one session to reach a framework or extension.
Ghalibaf, Iran's chief negotiator, posted this morning that Iran has prepared "new cards on the battlefield." That's leverage language, not walkaway language. You don't reveal new cards if you're not coming to the table.
Overnight: US boarded another vessel in the Indian Ocean, sanctioned for transporting Iranian oil. The pressure campaign continues in parallel with diplomacy. Hormuz is still closed.
What the structure says:
GEX recovered from -$5M yesterday to +$621M. The gamma suppression is rebuilding. Not at the +$2B levels from OpEx, but meaningfully positive. Dealers are back to absorbing moves.
$710 magnet: +$186M. Pinning price right here. Magnets stacked above to $725 with no gaps. The upside path is clear if talks produce headlines.
$700 accelerator: -$71M. Still there. Still 1.4% below. The trapdoor hasn't moved.
Daily flow: +13.3M shares long. Bullish again after yesterday's -29M bearish print. The market reversed course as the talk reports firmed up.
Premium: +$351M into calls. 70% call-heavy. The strongest call ratio since last week's rally.
Dealers short 129.3M shares. Buying dips. The engine is smaller than OpEx week but still substantial.
IV: 16.8%. Barely budged. The market is not pricing a blow-up. It's pricing a binary event with a slight lean toward resolution.
IV skew: +0.91%. Narrow. Puts and calls are nearly evenly priced. No panic hedging. No FOMO chasing. The market is waiting.
New positioning: 73% of volume is opening. 939K new call positions vs 837K new puts. Both sides building into Wednesday. The slight call lean says the smart money is positioning for a deal more than a breakdown.
The two paths haven't changed:
Deal or extension: vol crushes, magnets pull to $715/$720/$725, the grind resumes on lighter gamma. Oil drops. Energy shock narrative fades.
No deal, strikes resume: vol reprices from 17% toward 30%+. $700 accelerator fires. 129M shares of dealer short delta reverses from buying dips to selling rallies. $677 GEX flip is the first stop. $650 put wall below that.
The bottom line:
Both delegations are heading to Islamabad. The composite snapped back to bullish. The flow flipped positive. The structure is leaning toward resolution.
But the lean is slight and the event is binary. Wednesday evening decides. Everything between now and then is positioning, not conviction.
$710 is the pin. $715 is the target. $700 is the trapdoor. Wednesday evening is the deadline.
$SPY $QQQ $VIX
SPY UPDATE | Friday April 17 | 2:00 PM | OpEx Day
$710.22. Up 1.22%. Thirteen straight green days. New 30-day high. The longest winning streak of 2026.
Our Composite Score: +27.7 [Lean Bullish]
Before we get into the numbers โ a word for our readers.
This has been an extraordinary run. We tracked the mechanics from $656 to $710 โ every magnet, every dealer short, every put that bled into the tape. The structure called every level. But tonight the engine changes.
Read this update carefully. It's the most important one we've published.
What's happening right now:
Dealers are short 215.5M shares. Read that number again. A week ago it was 44M. It quadrupled. This is the largest forced-buying position in our data's history and it cuts both ways. When dealers are short 215M and price rises, they buy. When dealers are short 215M and price falls, they sell. The same mechanic that drove 13 straight green days accelerates in reverse on a red one.
$710 magnet at +$577M is pinning price. Net GEX at +$2.0B โ a record that will never be repeated because it expires in two hours.
Today's flow: +89.7M shares long, +$1.13B into calls (67% call-heavy), $3.27B total premium traded. OpEx volume is massive. 87% of call volume is new positioning โ people are building into next week, not closing.
IV skew hit +2.77%. Widest of the entire cycle. On the highest day. At the most bullish composite. Puts have never been more expensive relative to calls. Someone is paying up for protection at the top. Pay attention to that.
What changes at 4 PM:
4.25M contracts expire. 21.6% of total OI disappears. $1.1B of GEX rolls off.
The gamma blanket that suppressed every dip for two weeks gets pulled off tonight. Monday opens with a structurally different market.
Here's what that means specifically:
The magnets thin out. The dense $700-$710 zone that pinned price all week loses most of its near-term gamma. The remaining magnets are May and June dated โ still present but weaker.
Dealer short delta partially resets. The 215M won't stay at 215M once the 0DTE and weekly contracts expire. It drops. How much depends on what rolls and what expires. But the forced-buying engine shrinks.
Vanna flipped. We flagged this this morning. Dealer effective vanna is now -55K. That means if IV drops, dealers SELL. For the last two weeks, vol compression helped the rally. Next week, vol compression is neutral to negative for price. The tailwind became a headwind.
Charm pressure is the highest of the cycle at +428K. Time decay is forcing dealer selling, not buying. This was masked by the overwhelming put unwind. With that fuel gone, charm becomes more visible.
The risks for next week:
1. The ceasefire expires Tuesday April 21. This is the event. If no deal, vol reprices. If vol reprices from 16% toward 25%, vanna reversal means dealers sell aggressively. The same reflexive loop that drove the rally fires in reverse.
2. The gamma cushion is gone. GEX flip is at $673 โ 5.3% below. That sounds far. But without the dense near-term gamma, price moves faster. A 2-3% gap down on a headline puts us in a different structural regime overnight.
3. The dealer short at 215M is a loaded spring. It amplified every up day. It will amplify the first real down day just as hard. The 13-day streak didn't have a single session to release pressure. When it comes, the snap could be sharp even if brief.
4. IV skew at +2.77% is telling you the smart money is already hedged for this. The people driving the rally bought protection at the top. Follow their lead, not their direction.
What we're NOT saying:
We're not calling a top. The composite is bullish. The magnets above $710 still exist. If the ceasefire extends, this runs to $720-$725. The structure supports higher.
But the character of the market changes tonight. The mechanical tailwind that made this rally feel inevitable expires at 4 PM. What's left is a lighter gamma profile, a ceasefire clock at 4 days, and the largest dealer short delta in history that works in both directions.
The bottom line:
Enjoy the 13-day streak. It was mechanical, it was trackable, and it was real. But the fuel source expires tonight. Next week is a different market.
Stay hedged. Stay small into Tuesday. Let the ceasefire resolve before building conviction in either direction.
$710 is the pin into close. $720 is the target if the ceasefire extends. $673 is the floor if it doesn't. April 21 decides everything.
$SPY $QQQ $VIX