# Chain

The day's price with dealer exposure by strike for the whole chain, and every wall, flip and vol trigger.

The **Chain** widget draws the session's price next to dealer exposure at every
strike of the option chain, weighted by today's volume and open interest. The
call walls, put walls, flip and vol trigger are labeled, with ▲ marks for the
second and third walls. Switch between **Chart** and **Table**, and between a
line and candles. The header shows the net exposure for the chosen expiries.

Marked **(Beta)** in the widget picker: it is newer, and some of the options
data behind it can lag the live market by several minutes.

## Practical application

![Chain widget, illustrative example: NQ breaks the put wall in negative gamma, retests it and trends lower](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/chain.png "Illustrative example data, not a real session. NQ below the flip at 26,950 all day: the put wall at 26,700 breaks around 11:40, is retested from below at 12:45, and price closes at 26,540.")

**Reading it.** NQ opens near 26,890, already under the flip at 26,950, and
the header reads **-296.3M**: dealers are short gamma. Below the flip every bar
is red, and the biggest ones sit around the put wall at 26,700. Price slides
into the wall, breaks it around 11:40 and drops to about 26,630. The bounce
that follows stalls right back at 26,700 around 12:45, and from there NQ trends
lower to about 26,515 before closing at 26,540.

**What it means.** In short gamma, dealer hedging adds to moves instead of
slowing them. A put wall can stop a fall for a while, but once it gives way the
same strike tends to act as a ceiling.

**How to use it.**

- **Price under the flip with red bars below:** expect moves to run further
  than usual. Don't fade a break of the put wall just because it is a wall.
- **A broken put wall retested from below:** a lower-risk spot for shorts,
  with a stop back above the wall.
- **Above the flip with green bars around price:** the opposite: the largest
  green bars tend to slow price, and ranges are more likely.
- Use **Table** to read the exact exposure at each strike.