02 / Concepts · Futures and cash prices
Futures and cash prices
How index levels land on ES, NQ and GC charts, and the cash or ETF alternatives.
Most of the options positioning for the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 sits in index and ETF options, not in options on the futures. q-bitf moves those levels onto the futures price for you, so a level on an ES or NQ chart sits at the right futures price.
Choosing the price frame#
| Frame | Levels are priced on | Use it on |
|---|---|---|
| futures (default) | The futures contract | ES1!, NQ1!, GC1! and the micros |
| cash | The cash index | SPX, NDX, US500 and NAS100 CFD charts |
The TradingView extension and MotiveWave pick the frame from your chart. In the app and the MCP server you can choose it.
Index or ETF source (ES and NQ)#
ES and NQ levels can be read from the index options (the default) or from the ETF options (SPY, QQQ) mapped onto futures prices. On some days most of the short-dated activity is in the ETF, so the ETF read can be the better-informed one. Try both and see which your market respects.
Gold#
GC levels come from gold's options positioning and are placed on the GC futures price.