Chapter 5
Night Hawk
Evening Edition prep and pre-market confirmation — tomorrow's setups, GEX context, and invalidation levels published after the close.
Overview
Night Hawk publishes the Evening Edition: market recap, catalyst scan, GEX positioning, ranked play ideas, and hard invalidation levels for the next session.
Route `/nighthawk` hosts three views behind a single tab selector (ZERO_DTE / SWING / LEGACY, ?view= in the URL): the always-on intraday scanner, the Swing Command board, and this playbook (the Legacy tab). Only the selected view's data is fetched. This chapter covers the Legacy/playbook tab; 0DTE Command has its own guide.
It is asynchronous preparation — not a live execution desk. SPX Slayer takes over at the open. Morning confirm cron updates CONFIRMED / DEGRADED / INVALIDATED badges on each play.
Desk layout
Single tab-based view (ZERO_DTE / SWING / LEGACY) — the Legacy tab is a filterable, sortable pick-log TABLE (not a fixed column of ranked cards): a toolbar (tab counts, ticker search, status/tier/reason filters, sort, edition-date calendar), the play table itself, and a detail rail that slides in when you select a row (replaces the older center-overlay modal).
Edition data refreshes on a slower cadence than Slayer — expect 120s SWR on edition, 60s on play-status/morning-confirm, 600s (10 min) on track record.
If tonight's board is not published yet, stale/prior edition copy appears with explicit notice — read the freshness badges before trading old levels.
Panel reference
Every region below maps to a live UI panel on the desk. Read purpose first, then cadence, then how to consume — that order mirrors how you should scan the tool during RTH.
Toolbar (tabs, search, filters, calendar)
Top of the Legacy tab
Tab/filter/sort control for the pick-log table, plus freshness/degraded/stale banners and the edition-date calendar for browsing prior editions.
What it shows
- Tab counts (e.g. open/closed) and status/tier/reason filters
- Ticker search and column sort
- Freshness/degraded/stale/carry-forward banner when applicable
- Edition-date calendar to select a prior session's board
- Density/focus-mode prefs, CSV export, compare mode
How to consume
Read the banner first — a stale/prior notice means you're looking at yesterday's board, validate every level at the open. Use the calendar to review a past edition's outcomes rather than assuming today's list.
Track record scorecard
Below the toolbar (hidden in focus mode or once a row is selected)
Rolling track record for resolved Night Hawk plays, sourced from the same /api/market/nighthawk/record the per-conviction scorecard badges on each row read.
What it shows
- Resolved-play counts and win-rate summary for the session/window
- Per-conviction win-rate badges surfaced on individual rows
How to consume
Use for calibration, not prediction. Low sample sizes should not be over-weighted early in a window. Pair with your own journal.
Macro context strip
Below the scorecard (only when macro context is available and no row is selected)
End-of-day market snapshot carried into the edition: SPX premarket, overnight gap, regime, GEX bias, call/put walls.
What it shows
- SPX premarket level and prior close
- Overnight gap (points)
- Regime read and GEX bias, call/put wall levels
How to consume
Sets the macro tone before you scan the table. Cross-check against live levels at the open if the overnight read looks extreme.
Pick-log table
Main body — sortable/filterable rows
Every ranked setup for the selected tab/date, with conviction, levels, and morning status per row — replaces the older fixed five-card ranked list.
What it shows
- Ticker, direction, conviction/tier, rank
- Morning status: Confirmed / Degraded / Invalidated
- Score, flow streak, IV, premium cap
- Live/at-risk row highlighting
- Per-row compare checkbox
What you can do
- Click a row to open the detail rail
- Toggle a row into compare mode
How to consume
Work top-down by rank within a tab. Morning badges override yesterday's optimism — INVALIDATED means do not trade the setup without fresh Slayer confirmation. Use filters (status/tier/reason) rather than scrolling the full list once it's long.
Detail rail (manage + technicals)
Right-side rail (or a bottom sheet on mobile) — opens on row select
Deep breakdown for one selected play: management state and technical context. Replaces the older center-overlay PlayDetailModal.
What it shows
- Thesis, entry / target / stop, options contract, risk note
- Technical context for the selected ticker
What you can do
- Close rail (or backdrop tap on mobile) to return to the table
How to consume
Open for your top-ranked ideas after scanning the table. Hard levels shown here still rule over any narrative context. Close and re-select if the edition refreshed mid-read.
How it works
After cash close, cron builds the edition from end-of-day chain, flow, and catalyst context. Pre-market morning confirm cron re-evaluates each play against overnight structure.
Edition blocks
Structured document: recap, context bar, five ranked rows, record strip.
Morning confirm
CONFIRMED / DEGRADED / INVALIDATED badges reflect pre-open revalidation.
Carry logic
Plays may persist across sessions until close or invalidation.
Shared route
/nighthawk hosts three tabs on one route (ZERO_DTE / SWING / LEGACY) — switch views without a page navigation; each tab's data only loads while it's selected.
Step-by-step workflow
Read after 4:30 PM ET. Validate at the open on Slayer — markets change overnight.
- 1
Read after close
Bookmark edition cadence; expand recap once.
- 2
Note invalidation
Carry hard levels into the pre-market open.
- 3
Check morning badges
Before 9:30, refresh for CONFIRMED vs INVALIDATED.
- 4
Validate at open
Slayer flip and walls may disagree — Slayer wins for execution.
- 5
Check 0DTE Command
Switch to the ZERO_DTE tab on the same route to see today's always-on scanner finds.
Best practices
Do
- Use as bias, not autopilot.
- Re-read invalidation at the open.
- Respect INVALIDATED morning badges.
- Read Hawk Intel for context, not permission.
Don't
- Don't enter solely on yesterday's edition without open validation.
- Don't ignore stale/prior edition notices.
- Don't confuse Night Hawk with the play engine — different clocks and gates.
Connected tools
BlackOut is one pipeline. These desks share the same GEX, flow, and intelligence layers.
FAQ
Night Hawk vs SPX Slayer?
Night Hawk = evening publication + morning confirm; Slayer = live RTH engine with 3s play poll.
When is the edition published?
After cash close via cron; empty slots show until complete (~evening ET).
Why is 0DTE Command on the same page?
Single workflow: switch between the evening playbook (LEGACY tab), Swing Command, and the always-on scanner (ZERO_DTE tab) without a route change.
Open Night Hawk
Launch the live Night Hawk desk and apply this chapter in real time.