Positive vs Negative Gamma Regimes
Identifying the gamma regime before choosing a tactic is the single highest value habit in positioning based trading.
How do you tell which gamma regime the market is in?
Compare current price against the gamma flip level. Price above the gamma flip indicates a positive gamma regime where dealer hedging suppresses volatility. Price below the gamma flip indicates a negative gamma regime where dealer hedging amplifies every move that starts.
What works in a positive gamma regime?
Positive gamma rewards mean reversion. The Obsidian desk fades moves into the call wall and buys weakness into the put wall, using tight stops because the regime itself is expected to pull price back toward the centre of the established range.
What works in a negative gamma regime?
Negative gamma rewards trend continuation. The Obsidian desk stops fading extremes entirely, trades breaks in the direction of the prevailing move, widens stops to survive the larger range, and trails targets rather than fixing targets at the next marked level.
What happens when the gamma regime changes mid session?
A regime change invalidates the tactic rather than merely the trade. The Obsidian desk closes mean reversion positions when price breaks beneath the gamma flip, because the mechanism that was expected to return price to the range has just reversed direction.
| Condition | Positive gamma | Negative gamma |
|---|---|---|
| Price behaviour | Range bound, pinned near heavy strikes | Trending, expansive, gap prone |
| Preferred tactic | Fade extremes back toward the centre | Trade breaks in the direction of the move |
| Stop placement | Tight, just beyond the level | Wider, sized to the expanded range |
| Targets | The opposite level in the range | Extended, trailing rather than fixed |
| Main danger | A regime change mid trade | Fading a move that keeps accelerating |