# Strike Map

Open interest in a grid of strikes by expiries, to find where positions are concentrated.

The **Strike Map** shows open interest as a grid: strikes down the side,
expiries across the top, with brighter green for more open contracts. The
largest cell is lit up and the dashed row marks spot. It answers a simple
question: where are the positions?

## Practical application

![Strike Map widget, illustrative example: open interest stacked at 27,250 and 26,600 through the first week](https://q-bitf.com/docs-img/strike-map.png "Illustrative example data, not a real session. NQ open interest by strike and expiry: 27,250 holds 4.4K contracts today and 3.8K to 4.3K in each expiry through a week; 26,600 holds 3.4K to 4.0K over the same expiries.")

**Reading it.** Two rows stand out from top to bottom. **27,250** holds the
largest cell, 4.4K contracts in today's expiry, and stays between 3.8K and
4.3K in every expiry through a week out. **26,600** is almost as heavy, 3.4K
to 4.0K over the same expiries. Lighter rows sit at 27,500, 27,150 and 26,800.
From two weeks out, the grid evens out at a few hundred to about 1.8K per
cell.

**What it means.** The positions are concentrated at two strikes and spread
evenly over the next four expiries. Compare this with
[Greek Heatmap](https://q-bitf.com/docs/widgets/greek-heatmap): the same open interest produces
far more gamma in today's expiry than in next week's, because near-the-money
options closest to expiry react most to price.

**How to use it.**

- **The brightest rows are the strikes to watch:** that is where positions
  are, and where hedging and closing activity will happen.
- **Open interest stacked across several expiries** makes a level matter for
  longer than one heavy cell in a single expiry.
- **Check the far columns:** a strike that stays bright two or three months
  out is a longer-term level, not just this week's.
- Pair it with [Open Interest](https://q-bitf.com/docs/widgets/open-interest) to see what
  changed since yesterday.