Risk & reference

Glossary

Key terms organized by use case. They help explain structure and should not be treated as automated trading signals.

Options basics

Term	In one sentence
Call / Put	Call options / Put options. They can express directional views, provide protection, form spreads, trade volatility, and serve other purposes.
Strike	The price specified by an options contract and a common vertical axis on position maps.
Expiry	The date an option expires; some Greeks and structures can change faster as expiry approaches.
Premium	The price paid or received when trading an option; commonly used in order flow to measure a trade's notional scale.
OI	The outstanding stock of open contracts. It is not the same as positions opened today and does not directly establish direction.
0DTE	Options expiring Today. Time decay and Gamma sensitivity are generally higher, as is risk.
OPEX	A concentrated expiry window. Rolling and expiring positions can change the usual usefulness of structure.

Greeks and hedging

Term	In one sentence
Delta	An option's sensitivity to changes in the underlying price; it also approximates current directional Exposure.
Gamma	Delta's sensitivity to changes in the underlying price; it affects how rebalancing demand changes as price moves.
Positive / negative Gamma	Terms often used for hedging environments that are more likely to dampen or amplify volatility; they do not predict direction on their own.
GEX	A model view of Gamma Exposure aggregated by strike and expiry, used to locate structural areas worth observing.
Vega	An option's sensitivity to changes in implied volatility.
Vanna	Delta's sensitivity to implied volatility, linking spot and volatility changes.
Charm	Delta's sensitivity to the passage of time; especially useful to understand near the close and near expiry.
Delta hedging	Reducing directional Exposure by trading the underlying or related instruments; the full process cannot be observed from public data.

Position map

Term	In one sentence
node	An Exposure area at a given strike and horizon. Start with absolute value, then consider location, sign, change, and price response.
Primary node / Anchor	The node with the largest current absolute value. It deserves close tracking but is not a guaranteed destination.
Floor	An important structural node below spot. Whether it becomes support requires price confirmation.
Ceiling	An important structural node above spot. Whether it becomes resistance requires price confirmation.
Checkpoint	Intermediate structure on the path to the next important node; it influences whether the path can open easily.
air pocket	A low-friction area with few significant nodes, suggesting price may travel faster through it. It does not imply a reversal target.
Node reorganization	A structural change caused by nodes growing, fading, or migrating; old assumptions must be reassessed.
Node freshness	Whether price has already tested a node. Repeated tests generally reduce its usefulness as a reference for future reactions.
Gamma Flip	The modeled boundary between positive and negative Gamma. Treat it as a clue that the regime may change, not as an automatic trading line.
Max Pain	A theoretical calculation based on expiry settlement, not a reliable price-target forecast.

Capital and order flow

Term	In one sentence
Options Flow	Trade-level options activity that must be interpreted with the contract, expiry, size, OI, and price structure.
SWEEP	A method that fills an order quickly across several venues, indicating urgency but not automatically proving direction or a newly opened position.
Bid / Ask	The buyer's quote / seller's quote. A trade near one side only helps infer the aggressor and cannot fully identify the strategy.
Dark Pool	Large stock trades not displayed on the public order book. A large print has no inherent bullish or bearish direction.
Net premium	A monetary measure produced by aggregating options trades of different directions under a defined method. It is useful for context, not for drawing a trading conclusion on its own.
P/C Ratio	The ratio of Put to Call volume or OI. It must be interpreted in the context of the sample, expiries, and market backdrop.

Interpretation and risk

Whenever you encounter a term, ask four questions: When was the data updated? Is the structure close to price? Does it agree with the chart, liquidity, and related markets? If I am wrong, what would invalidate my hypothesis?

Terminology helps you describe the market more precisely; it does not automatically improve your win rate. Every model and dataset can omit information or contain errors and should be used with independent judgment and risk management.