Option Levels Advanced: the complete setup, tab by tab

Option Levels Advanced draws, right on the price chart, the strikes where market maker exposure is most concentrated, ranks them by strength with triangles, and adds the Zero Gamma line. Unlike the standard version, it relies on real Cboe participant data: you need the DeepGamma module and an SPX option chart. This tutorial covers adding it, both settings tabs and how to read the levels.

Step by step

1. 01

   Open an SPX option chart

   Go to New in the top menu, then Option Chart. In the Select Instrument box, pick the SPX row, symbol ES-CME, exchange CME. The other three rows (NDX, QQQ, SPY) are there, but the indicator will not work on them: like the GEX Profile, it reads the participant data published by Cboe, which only exists for SPX options. Once the chart is open, the title bar reads SPX -> ES followed by the contract month: the levels are read on the ES futures price, which also holds if you trade MES on a prop firm account.

   

2. 02

   Add Option Levels Advanced

   Click Indicator Add in the chart toolbar, type Option Levels Advanced in the search box, add it with the plus button, then click the settings icon next to Option Levels Advanced (2) in the right hand list. The settings window has two tabs in its left column, GENERAL and PLOT SETTINGS, under the Chart area row (Horizontal or Vertical) that every indicator shares. The word Advanced matters: the standard version, Option Levels, builds its levels on volume or gamma assumptions, not on Cboe market maker data.

   

3. 03

   Pick the data source

   Data source decides what the lines represent. Gex (Market Maker), the default, uses market maker gamma exposure as reported by Cboe: the reference read for where real hedging pressure sits. Market Maker Net Flow isolates the net delta flow from market maker buying and selling. OI (R.T.) uses the open interest DeepChart computes in real time from the Cboe flow, useful to see where standing positions are rather than today's volume. Dex (Market Maker) shows delta exposure, so directional hedging pressure rather than gamma sensitivity. Gamma (Call OI-R - Put OI-R) recomputes gamma on real time open interest for a structural view. It is almost the same list as in the GEX Profile: the difference is that here each source turns into lines on price instead of a histogram pinned to the right edge.

   

4. 04

   Frame the expiration and strike count

   Expiration defaults to All expirations and narrows to 0 DTE, one day, seven days, thirty one days or ninety one days. Include Carry or Open interest, off by default, adds open interest carried over from earlier sessions: on, you see total positioning; off, only the current session counts. Number of Strikes (0 - unlimited) limits the calculation to the strikes closest to price; zero, the default, takes them all. Every level label reflects the chosen source and expiration filter (GEX (MM) in the screenshot): change either one and you change what the line means.

   Screenshot to come

   The Expiration, Include Carry or Open interest and Number of Strikes (0 - unlimited) settings.

5. 05

   Read the triangles and the Zero Gamma line

   Each plotted level carries a row of triangles ranking it against the other levels on the chart: more triangles means a stronger concentration at that strike. Positive levels are green with downward triangles, negative levels red with upward triangles. On top of these ranked levels, the indicator draws the Zero Gamma line, yellow by default: it does not depend on how many levels you display, and marks the single price where market maker gamma exposure flips from positive to negative, computed here from Cboe data. It is the same concept as the Zero Gamma line in Gamma Bands, minus the volume based estimate.

   

6. 06

   Set line extension in Plot Settings

   The EXTENSION section controls how much information lands on screen. Number of sessions, one by default, sets how many previous sessions the levels extend across. Number of levels, two by default, sets how many levels are drawn and therefore ranked against each other by the triangles: raising it adds strikes to the ranking, but quickly clutters an already busy ES chart. Extension mode offers None (levels drawn on the current session only), Till interaction, the default, which extends the line until price touches it, and Till end window, which extends it to the edge of the visible window.

   

7. 07

   Style the labels and lines

   Under LABEL, Text size is eleven, Custom header adds your own text to the labels, Align previous values on right (on by default) pushes the labels of previous sessions to the right, and Align current values on right (off) does the same for the current session. Under LINES, Positive color is green, Negative color red and Zero color yellow; Lines width is one and Lines style Dash. If you also run Gamma Bands, change the Zero color of one of them: two yellow Zero Gamma lines calculated differently, and you no longer know which one you are looking at.

   Screenshot to come

   The LABEL and LINES sections of the PLOT SETTINGS tab.

8. 08

   Cross check with the other DeepGamma indicators

   The help center frames the indicator as an anchor: specific prices to react to, to be confirmed by context. Option Summary gives the market regime (positive or negative gamma) before you trade a level, the GEX Profile shows the full exposure distribution around each level, the GEX Heatmap shows the same exposure as colored zones on price, and Option Gex Profile Hedging tells you whether hedging at that level is likely to amplify or dampen the move. Start from the regime, drill down to the level, then confirm with positioning.

   

Settings, tab by tab