The bigger picture: GEX + DEX
Regime plus lean — the two-axis read of dealer positioning.
GEX and DEX answer different questions about the same order book. GEX is the regime: will dealer hedging dampen moves (positive gamma) or amplify them (negative gamma)? DEX is the lean: which direction is the open interest actually exposed, and how much stock is hedging it? Read together, they give a two-axis map of the tape.
The four quadrants
- +GEX / +DEX — pinned and call-heavy. The classic grind-up tape: dips get bought by hedging flows, but rallies stall into the big call strikes. Favor mean-reversion and selling premium at the walls.
- +GEX / −DEX — pinned but put-heavy. A market that is hedged and calm: downside is cushioned twice (gamma dampening plus insurance already in place). Vol-crush drift higher is common here.
- −GEX / +DEX — unstable and call-heavy. The fragile melt-up: moves amplify and the crowd is long. Upside continuation can run, but a reversal unwinds both the hedges and the crowd at once — fast, deep pullbacks.
- −GEX / −DEX — unstable and put-heavy. Maximum energy in both directions: accelerating hedges plus a crowded bearish trade. This is squeeze territory — declines cascade, and rallies rip as dealer shorts and put hedges unwind together.
Order of operations
Read GEX first — it sets the character of the day and how to size. Then read DEX — it tells you which side of that regime is crowded and where the asymmetry is. A negative-gamma day is dangerous in both directions; deeply negative DEX on that day says the upside is the crowded exit.When they disagree
The most informative moments are divergences: Total Net DEX flipping sign while the GEX regime holds, or GEX flipping negative while DEX stays stubbornly one-sided. Positioning turned before behavior did — those transitions front-run regime changes on the chart itself.