Trading the Put Wall on CPI Day — SPX Case Study
On CPI morning, Tuesday November 10, SPX opened in negative gamma and sat a few points above its 7,500 put wall. Two bullish SPX call trades built around that wall both closed the same session, each up about 19%: a lesson in reading where dealer hedging tends to turn price, and in taking the bounce instead of waiting for the bigger move.
What the gamma map said
The 9:51 post-open TradeGuidance gamma map put SPX in negative gamma, where dealer hedging tends to amplify moves rather than dampen them.
| SPX level | Value | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Spot at 9:51 | 7,506.75 | Price when the map ran |
| Put wall / pin | 7,500 | Largest negative-gamma strike; support to watch |
| Gamma flip | 7,530 | Above it, hedging flips from amplifying to dampening |
| Call wall | 7,550 | Upside reclaim zone in negative gamma |
| Downside expansion | below 7,495 | Where a break would likely run |
| ATM straddle | ~44 points | The market's expected move for the day |
The map did not call direction. It said moves would be larger than usual and that 7,500 was the line: hold it and a lift toward the flip was likely; lose it and the downside could run.
The two trades
Both were bullish and built around the put wall holding: the first closed on the morning bounce, the second rode the afternoon lift.
| Trade | Structure | Entry | Exit | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Long call | SPXW Nov 17 7600 call (7 days to expiry) | 28.60 at 9:35 am | 34.00 at 10:00 am (limit placed at 9:36) | +5.40 points, +18.9% |
| 2. Call vertical | SPXW Nov 13 7530/7590 call spread | 23.50 debit | Legged out: short 7590 bought back at 14.00 @2:10:59 pm EST, then long 7530 sold at 42.00 @ 2:52:21 pm EST (28.00 combined) | +4.50 points, +19.1% |
Trade 1 was about 94 points out of the money. A call that far out moves roughly a third of a point per SPX point, so the 5.40 gain needed only a modest lift off 7,500, not a run to 7,600. The exit was a resting limit set one minute after the fill: the target was decided before the trade could argue with it.
Trade 2 risked 23.50 to make up to 36.50 (the spread's 60-point width minus the debit). Closing each leg at its own best moment beat taking one mid price for the pair.
Three lessons
- Negative gamma rewards owning options, not selling them. The map expected bigger moves; buying premium near a wall that held let that expansion work for the position.
- Give the trade time when the event is fresh. A 0DTE 7600 call would have needed a large move within hours on a post-CPI tape. Seven days to expiry slowed the decay enough for a partial move to pay.
- When legging out, buy back the short leg first. Closing the short call first leaves only the long call, so risk never exceeds what was paid. Selling the long first would leave a short call with no cap on the loss. In a fast lift, the short call is what holds the spread back, so it is also the leg to remove early.
The wider point: the bounce off the put wall was the trade. Waiting for a reclaim of the 7,530 flip would have asked for more than the map promised.
Economic calendar items which likely impacted today's price action
- Fed Gov Waller's comments on here: https://www.reuters.com/business/feds-waller-plans-support-least-quarter-point-rate-hike-december-2026-11-10/
- CPI reading for Oct'26 - https://www.investing.com/economic-calendar/cpi-733
Disclosure
These were the author's own trades in a personal account. Results exclude commissions and fees. Gamma levels are model output from public-style assumptions, not a measurement of actual dealer positioning.
All investments involve risk. This material is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. Options can lose their full value quickly; past results do not predict future results. © Trade Guidance 2026.