Markets · GC

Gold gamma exposure: dealer levels for GC futures

Most gamma tools stop at the stock indices. Zanshin Flow also reads COMEX gold (GC) futures options as their own book, so you can see where dealer gamma in gold sits, by strike, live, through the Asian and London sessions as well as New York.

Gold's own options, not an ETF proxy

Gold gamma levels are often taken from GLD, the ETF, and scaled to a futures price. Zanshin Flow doesn't map anything onto gold. It reads the options on the GC future directly, on CME's COMEX, so the strikes are gold prices in dollars per ounce and the book is the one futures traders actually hold. Each option is on one 100-ounce future, so the gamma and the hedging are stated in real dollars per $1 move in gold.

To keep the book on the strikes that matter, Zanshin Flow keeps strikes within 5% of each option's own future. Far out-of-the-money gold options carry open interest but almost no gamma near the price, and would only add noise to the map.

Gold expires earlier than the indices

Gold's weekday options settle at 13:30 New York time, not 16:00. That matters for anything that depends on time to expiry: same-day gold gamma peaks and vanishes two and a half hours before the equity close, and charm, the hedging that time decay forces, is strongest in the hour before 13:30. Zanshin Flow uses each expiry's own settlement time, so the countdown, the decay and the expected move are right for gold.

What you see for gold

Gamma by strike under price: every strike's dealer gamma as a heatmap behind the candles, with the call wall, put wall, gamma flip and expected-move bands.
Any expiry: today's, each of the next three, all of them combined, or any mix.
Charm and vanna by strike: how time decay and changes in implied volatility move the dealer hedge.
The gold options tape: big trades, premium by time and strike, and the dealer hedging flow those trades force.
Level Check: grades the level price is at from long or short gamma, hedging divergence and how fast price came in.

A worked example, in dollars

Illustrative numbers, not a live quote. Say the strike nearest the money has 4,000 contracts of open interest and each option has a gamma of 0.004 per $1 of gold. If dealers are short those options, a $1 rise in gold raises the delta they're short by 0.004 × 4,000 = 16 futures. A $20 move, constant gamma assumed, is 320 futures, or 32,000 ounces. That's the size of hedge a gamma map is estimating. Whether it shows up in price depends on how it compares with the liquidity trading at that moment, and gamma doesn't stay constant over a $20 move, so the real figure needs repricing.

What it isn't

Gold's options book is smaller than the S&P's, and gold is moved by rates, the dollar and central-bank buying that have nothing to do with dealer hedging. Gold walls are context, not signals, and nothing here is an edge on its own. For the mechanics behind the map, see gamma exposure explained.

Questions

Is there a gamma exposure tool for gold futures?

Yes. Zanshin Flow shows dealer gamma for COMEX gold (GC) from gold's own futures options, live, with call walls, put walls and the gamma flip. $15 a month after a 3-market-day free trial.

Are Zanshin Flow's gold levels from GLD?

No. They come from the options on the GC future itself, so the strikes are gold prices per ounce and the book is the futures market's own.

When do gold options expire?

Gold's weekday options settle at 13:30 New York time, earlier than the 16:00 equity close. Zanshin Flow times each expiry's decay to its own settlement.

Not financial advice. Zanshin Flow is an analytics tool; nothing on it is a recommendation to buy or sell anything.