Three sessions with the GRC band
Read three recorded QQQ sessions: one that reached the band, one that stayed above it, and one that opened inside it.
In this article 6 sections
What to look at
Each chart below is a recorded QQQ cash session. The mint zone is that day’s GRC band, drawn from the strike gamma on the book. The call wall and the put wall stay on the chart so you can see when they agree with the GRC and when they do not.
Read three things: where the band sits relative to the open, whether the session’s high or low reaches it, and whether the GRC is the same strike as a wall.
A gamma flip under review
Compare QQQ’s completed closes with its short-horizon flip.
Choose a checkpoint for 1-minute detail. Later prices stay hidden.
A flip crossing alone is not an entry.
Historical review. Plans are hypothetical; fills, delivered signals and a trading edge are not proved.
- Context
- Preopen walls: call $720.00, put $705.00. Flips: ≤1 DTE $717.91; ≤7 DTE $717.98. ≤1 DTE is not 0DTE-only. The 15-minute-delayed model was stale; alerts were suppressed. Pause until model timing and a fresh broker quote are verified. No order was authorized.
- Wait for
- The 09:55–09:59 block closed $718.88 above the short-horizon flip, known at 10:00 ET. This is an observation, not an automatic entry.
- Execution
- No order is specified or executed. Define entry, invalidation and risk separately using fresh quotes and acceptable spreads. Shorts require borrow; size must fit buying power. No option or futures trade is inferred.
- Invalidation
- A completed close back below the same flip challenges the hold-above idea. Keep the horizon fixed.
- Management
- Follow completed closes. Wait for any separately required wall touch. If no condition qualifies, staying out is valid.
Above at 09:56 ET; back below at 10:17. The session had 12 strict adjacent-close crossings; neither primary wall was touched. No entry, alert, fill, edge or P&L is established.
Source, timestamps & selection
- Candles
- Databento XNAS.ITCH · venue OHLCV, not consolidated SIP volume. These are venue bars, not a consolidated market tape.
- Model source
- Tradier sandbox · original archived native model. Source delay: 900 seconds.
- Model built
2026-09-09T06:40:02.007023+00:00- First recorded
2026-09-09T06:44:08.998656+00:00- Open interest timestamp
- Unknown. No point-in-time open-interest clock was supplied.
- Evidence limit
- A local producer cycle recorded this model before the cash open. The producer log is mutable and has no independently sealed receipt. The first and selected records report stale=true and alerts_suppressed=true; no enabled alert, trader broadcast or execution is proved. Exact OI availability is unknown. The chart uses a different price provider. Bar-end times are the earliest theoretical observation times after a minute closes, not proven client delivery times.
- Why this day
- Four editorial examples selected after reviewing all 12 SPY/QQQ/IWM sessions from September 8–11, 2026. Hindsight selection is explicit. Untouched levels, recrossings and the invalidation-first case remain visible; no hit rate or predictive performance is claimed.
The producer record is mutable. “First recorded” describes the recorded archive; it is not proof that a trader received the same levels at that instant.
Archive fingerprints
- resource-case-study-census.json
af9379d9eb6802044356957fd6cf9a96b203eb57bddafd844c2d56ebf679de85 - cycles.parquet
774e0b67dd965b652f12ef1f7a5e90a49a81ba14871c05f2851144a24731b7a2 - contracts-QQQ.parquet
0ad36606577cb7693b97c4538fcfd12b70c99d7e1e2831c7a10d427fc86822db - QQQ-preview.json
61590fe909b65c86fcac3ef1642b45a9032f2cc6558cff5d812cd4d44520faa7
Explore the concept with a simplified model
9 Sep 2026 · the high reached the band
QQQ opened at 716.40. The GRC was 720, and the band ran from 719.13 to 720.87. On this chart the call wall is also 720. The put wall is 705.
The session high was 719.69, which is inside the band. The close was 716.28, back below it. The combined gamma concentration sat above the open, and the high was the contact with that zone. Here the GRC and the call wall are the same strike. The put wall is a separate mark, well below the open.
10 Sep 2026 · the session stayed above it
QQQ opened at 707.56. The GRC was 705, the same strike as the put wall. The band ran from 703.69 to 706.31. The call wall was 715.
The session low was 706.87. That is above the top of the band, so the day’s range never entered the zone. Price spent the session between the GRC and the call wall. The GRC and the put wall agreed. The call wall was a separate mark, and the high, 712.06, did not reach it either.
11 Sep 2026 · the open was already inside
QQQ opened at 715.66. The GRC was 715, and the band ran from 714.04 to 715.96, so the open was already inside the concentration. On this chart the call wall is 710 and the put wall is 700.
The high was 717.62 and the low was 713.63. The range left the band on both sides, and the close, 714.85, finished back inside it. The GRC is not the same strike as either wall. That is a different picture from 9 Sep, when the GRC and the call wall were the same strike.
How this sits in a plan you already have
Use the three days as a way to locate price against the concentration you already see. Outside and not yet touched, outside for the whole session, or already inside at the open. The band does not choose an entry, a stop, or a direction.
- Note whether the open is below the band, above it, or inside it.
- Note whether the session high or low reaches the zone.
- Compare the GRC with the call wall and the put wall. Agreement and disagreement are both information.
- Read the model clock. These three charts are recorded sessions, not a live book.
Sources and editorial notes
Read the primary references and editorial policy
Published by GEXfreak. Prism by GEXfreak is the product described in these guides. Definitions reference the primary sources below; examples and tool-selection checklists are GEXfreak’s own illustrations. This is product education, not independent investment research.
These sources explain options mechanics and data. They do not endorse Prism or validate the predictive value of its levels. Undated pages are marked below; the checked date is when the source was reviewed.
- Gamma — Options Industry Council (OCC). Publication date not stated. Checked .
- Frequently Asked Questions — Cboe DataShop. Publication date not stated. Checked .
For the product’s calculation and data boundaries, read Prism’s methodology.
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