# Interval Map

How dealer exposure built up at each strike through the session, in time buckets, with price on top.

The **Interval Map** shows how exposure at each strike changed through the
session. Each row is a strike and each mark a time bucket (3 minutes by
default): green for positive net GEX, red for negative, larger and brighter for
larger amounts. Price runs across as a white line. Yellow outlines mark the
**lead strike**, the one with the most exposure in each stretch of time. The
header gives the latest bucket's net GEX; overnight, a badge notes that only
positioning is shown.

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

![Interval Map widget, illustrative example: the lead strike moves from the call wall to a put strike below price](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/interval-map.png "Illustrative example data, not a real session. NQ same-day options, 3-minute buckets: the lead strike is 27,025 until 11:30 AM, 27,250 from 11:30 AM to 2:18 PM, then 26,950 (negative) into the close.")

**Reading it.** In the morning the action follows price: the lead strike is
**27,025** until 11:30 AM while NQ climbs from about 26,950. As the rally
reaches the call wall, the lead moves to **27,250** and stays there from 11:30
AM to 2:18 PM, the biggest green row on the map. Price tops just under it
around 12:20 PM. From 2:18 PM the lead jumps to **26,950**, a red row below
price that keeps growing into the close, while the green rows above fade in
comparison.

**What it means.** Midday trading built positive exposure at the wall, which
capped the rally. In the afternoon the weight shifted to negative exposure
below price: the level where hedging adds to a move rather than slowing it.

**How to use it.**

- **Follow the lead strike:** it shows where the session's hedging weight
  sits right now, and when it moves.
- **A growing green row just above price:** expect rallies to slow there.
- **A growing red row just below price:** a break through it can speed up;
  tighten stops on longs.
- Switch **Raw** to **Diff** in Details to see only what changed each
  interval, which makes fresh positioning stand out.