# Candles

Candlesticks with the walls, gamma flip, vol trigger and 1σ band drawn on price, and how to trade them.

The **Candles** widget is a candlestick chart of the selected symbol with the
q-bitf levels drawn straight on price: call wall, put wall, gamma flip, vol
trigger and the 1σ expected-move band. It is the quickest way to see how price
is behaving around the levels, and it is one of the widgets that can rewind in
[Replay](#rewind-a-past-session).

## What it shows

| On the chart | What it is |
|---|---|
| **Call Wall** (green) | The heaviest call positioning above price. See [Call wall and put wall](https://q-bitf.com/docs/concepts/call-wall-and-put-wall) |
| **Put Wall** (red) | The heaviest put positioning below price |
| **Gamma Flip** (yellow, dashed) | Where dealer gamma turns from positive to negative. See [Gamma flip](https://q-bitf.com/docs/concepts/gamma-flip) |
| **Vol Trigger** (purple, dashed) | The HVL: the same turning point across the whole book |
| **+1σ / −1σ** (grey, dashed) | The [expected move](https://q-bitf.com/docs/concepts/expected-move) for the rest of the day |
| Price tag (right edge) | The last price |
| Volume bars | Traded volume per candle |

Pick **1m**, **5m**, **15m** or **1h** candles in the top-right corner. The
lines show each level's value at the time you are looking at, so in Replay they
move as the session plays.

## Practical application

The three examples below are real NQ sessions from the q-bitf Replay history.
The screenshots are the Candles widget exactly as it looked at the time named
in each caption.

### 1. A call wall holds in positive gamma (NQ, Oct 6, 2026)

NQ opened at 31,513.50 in a **STRONG POSITIVE** gamma regime, with the call
wall at 31,612.84 and the gamma flip below price. Price rallied into the wall
and peaked at 31,616.75 around 11:15 ET, less than four points above it. It
could not hold there: by 3:00 PM it had sold back to 31,533, right on the gamma
flip at 31,527.07, and it closed at 31,480.50.

![NQ Candles widget on Oct 6, 2026 at 3:00 PM ET: price rejected at the call wall and back at the gamma flip](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/candles-call-wall-hold.png "NQ, Oct 6, 2026, 3:00 PM ET (Replay). Price touched the Call Wall at 31,612.84 around 11:15 and faded back to the Gamma Flip at 31,527.07.")

**How to use it.** In positive gamma, dealer hedging sells rallies into the
call wall. A first touch of a STRONG wall is a fade candidate, with a stop a
little above the wall and the gamma flip as the first target. A close above the
wall would cancel the idea.

### 2. Price breaks the gamma flip (NQ, Sep 23, 2026)

NQ opened at 31,005.75, above a gamma flip near 30,815, in **STRONG POSITIVE**
gamma. Price slid through the flip at 10:07 ET, and the regime reading turned
**STRONG NEGATIVE** the same minute. It fell to 30,642.25 by 10:26, through the
bottom of the 1D range at 30,796.37. At 11:01 it rallied back to 30,827.75,
three points above the flip, and rolled over again. It closed at 30,770.25,
still below the flip.

![NQ Candles widget on Sep 23, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET: price below the gamma flip after a break](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/candles-flip-break.png "NQ, Sep 23, 2026, 1:00 PM ET (Replay). The break through the Gamma Flip, the low near 10:26, and the failed retest of the flip at 11:01.")

**How to use it.** A break below the flip means dealers have switched from
damping moves to chasing them, so expect a wider range and stop fading. The
first retest of the flip from below is a common place for the move to resume,
as it did here at 11:01.

### 3. Walls break in negative gamma (NQ, Oct 16, 2026)

NQ opened at 30,024 already below the gamma flip, in **STRONG NEGATIVE**
gamma. The put wall at 29,910 gave way at about 9:55 ET. A bounce at 10:48
reached 29,931.75, just above the broken wall, and failed. As price fell, the
put wall kept moving lower with it: by noon it sat at 29,708.60 with price
below it at 29,659, and the gamma flip had dropped to 29,936.06. The session
closed near 29,400 after a 2.5% range.

![NQ Candles widget on Oct 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM ET: price below a put wall that keeps moving lower](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/candles-negative-gamma.png "NQ, Oct 16, 2026, 12:00 PM ET (Replay). The put wall has moved down to 29,708.60 and price is below it. The stored candles have gaps between 9:30 and 9:58.")

**How to use it.** In negative gamma, support walls tend to break and then move
with price instead of holding. A wall that keeps stepping lower is not support.
Treat failed bounces into a broken wall, like the one at 10:48, as signs the
move is still on.

## Rewind a past session

Click **Replay** in the workspace toolbar, pick a day and a time (Cash open,
Midday, Close and others), then press play. Candles, Key Levels, GEX Levels,
Session Price and the Regime Strip rewind together. GEX Levels shows the
day-trade ladder that was stored for that session. Replay covers ES, NQ and GC.

> **Note:** These examples show how the levels behaved on those days. They are
> not a promise of how they will behave next time; check the
> [scoreboard](https://q-bitf.com/docs/app/scoreboard) for how often each level actually held.

## Questions

### What lines does the Candles widget draw?

The call wall, put wall, gamma flip, vol trigger (HVL) and the ±1σ expected-move band, each at its value for the time shown.

### Can I see past sessions in the Candles widget?

Yes. Use Replay in the workspace toolbar to pick a past ES, NQ or GC session and play it back bar by bar with the levels as they were.