Option Levels Advanced plots key strike levels directly on your price chart as horizontal lines, using real CBOE market maker data rather than the standard volume or gamma assumptions. These levels highlight where the most significant dealer positioning is concentrated, giving you a more accurate structural view of potential support, resistance, and hedging pressure than the standard Option Levels indicator.

Note: Option Levels Advanced is available on SPX only, as it requires CBOE data.

How to Add Option Levels Advanced

1. Go to New in the top menu

2. Click on Option Chart

   

3. A Select Instrument dialog will appear. Since Option Levels Advanced requires CBOE data, select SPX - Symbol: ES-CME, Exchange: CME

   

4. Click to open the chart

5. Once the Option Chart is loaded, click the Indicator Add button on the chart toolbar

6. Search for Option Levels Advanced and click + to add it

7. Click the settings icon to open the configuration window

   

Understanding the Indicator

Option Levels Advanced plots horizontal lines directly on your price chart, based on your selected data source. The number of levels shown depends on your Number of levels setting, and each one is ranked by strength using triangle markers, more triangles indicate a stronger concentration at that strike.

Each level is labeled based on your selected data source and expiration filter. Green levels with downward triangles represent positive values, while red levels with upward triangles represent negative values

Understanding Key Terms

Before choosing a data source, it helps to understand a few core options concepts:

• Call - An option that gives the buyer the right to buy the underlying at a set price. Traders buy calls when they expect price to go up

• Put - An option that gives the buyer the right to sell the underlying at a set price. Traders buy puts when they expect price to go down

• Gamma - A measure of how much an option’s delta changes as price moves. High gamma means dealers need to hedge more aggressively as price approaches a strike

• GEX (Gamma Exposure) - An estimate of the gamma exposure dealers are carrying at a given strike, combining volume with the gamma greek

• DEX (Delta Exposure) - An estimate of the delta exposure dealers are carrying at a given strike, showing directional hedging pressure rather than gamma sensitivity

• OI (Open Interest) - The total number of option contracts currently open and not yet closed or expired

• OI-R (Real-Time Open Interest) - Since official exchange open interest is only released at end of day, DeepChart calculates open interest in real time from live CBOE buy and sell flow. For example, if there are 2 sells and 1 buy, there is a net open position of 1

• Market Maker Net Flow - The net delta flow generated specifically by market maker buy and sell activity, isolating dealer side positioning from overall market activity

Settings

General

• Data source - Choose how the levels are calculated. Options available:

  • Gex (Market Maker) (default) - uses real CBOE reported market maker gamma exposure to calculate levels. Use this when: you want the most reliable read on where real dealer gamma hedging pressure exists

  • Market Maker Net Flow - uses the net delta flow generated by market maker buy and sell activity.
    Use this when: you want to isolate dealer side flow specifically, separate from overall market activity

  • OI (R.T.) - uses DeepChart’s real time open interest calculation.
    Use this when: you want levels based on live standing positions rather than session volume

  • Dex (Market Maker) - uses real CBOE reported market maker delta exposure.
    Use this when: you want to see dealer directional hedging pressure rather than gamma sensitivity

  • Gex (Call OI-R - Put OI-R) - calculates gamma exposure using real time open interest as the base instead of session volume.
    Use this when: you want a structural view of gamma exposure based on live positioning, rather than one driven by today’s volume

• Expiration - Filter levels by expiration. Options available: 0 DTE, <= 1d, <= 7d, <= 31d, <= 91d, All expirations. Default is All expirations

• Include Carry or Open Interest - When enabled, includes open interest carried over from previous sessions into the calculation, giving you a broader view of total positioning. When disabled, only the current session data is considered. Default is disabled

  

Plot Settings

Extension

• Number of sessions - Set how many previous sessions the levels are extended across. Default is 1

• Number of levels - Set how many levels are plotted on the chart. Default is 2. Each level plotted is ranked by strength using triangle markers, more levels shown means more strikes are ranked and compared against each other

• Extension mode - Choose how the level lines are extended. Options available:

  • None - no extension, levels are plotted only for the current session

  • Till interaction (default) - extends the line until price interacts with it

  • Till end window - extends the line to the end of the visible chart window

Label

• Text size - Set the font size for the level labels. Default is 11

• Custom header - Add a custom label text to the levels if needed

• Align previous values on right - When enabled, aligns labels for previous session values to the right side of the chart. Default is enabled

• Align current values on right - When enabled, aligns labels for current session values to the right side of the chart. Default is disabled

Lines

• Positive color - Set the color for positive levels. Default is green

• Negative color - Set the color for negative levels. Default is red

• Lines style - Choose the line style. Default is Dash

• Lines width - Set the thickness of the lines. Default is 1

  

Example - How to Use Option Levels Advanced

Once added to your chart, you will see horizontal lines plotted at key strike levels, each ranked by strength using the triangle markers, based on real market maker data. Here is a simple way to use them:

• The number of triangles tells you how significant that level is relative to the others on your chart. A level with more triangles represents a stronger concentration than one with fewer

• How price reacts at a level depends on the direction it is approaching from and which side of the market that level represents. Watch for a slowdown, reversal, or acceleration as price reaches the level, rather than assuming a fixed outcome

• Since this version uses real CBOE market maker data instead of an assumption, levels here can be more reliable than the standard Option Levels indicator, particularly around 0DTE and OPEX when naive GEX calculations tend to break down

Building a fuller picture with other indicators

Option Levels Advanced works well as an anchor for a broader options based setup, since it gives you clean, specific price levels to react to. Combine it with:

• Option Summary to check the overall market regime (positive or negative gamma) before trading off a level, since levels behave differently depending on which regime the market is in

• Option Gex Profile to see the full distribution of market maker gamma exposure around each level, giving you context on how significant that level is relative to surrounding strikes

• Option Gex Heatmap to see the same market maker exposure visualized directly on the price chart as colored zones, useful for spotting confluence between a level and a wider area of dealer positioning

• Option Gex Profile Hedging to check whether dealer hedging at that level is likely to amplify or attenuate a move, adding another layer of context before reacting to the level

Used together, these indicators let you move from the big picture (market regime) down to a specific level (Option Levels Advanced) and then confirm it with dealer positioning and hedging behavior (Gex Profile, Heatmap, Hedging), rather than relying on a single line on the chart in isolation.

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