Chapter 2
SPX Slayer
The flagship real-time SPX desk — GEX walls, gamma flip, play engine verdicts, and 0DTE execution intelligence in one terminal.
Overview
SPX Slayer is your primary Regular Trading Hours desk for PM-settled 0DTE SPX options. It unifies dealer gamma structure, volatility regime, flow bias, and BlackOut Intelligence play scoring into a single three-column terminal.
The desk is built around one merged data spine (`useMergedDesk`): pulse, full desk, and flow lanes combine into a single payload that feeds the header, commentary rail, and session gates. The play engine and 0DTE matrix poll independently because they move on different clocks.
Cash-settled SPX options are European-style. The desk targets PM-settled 0DTE — the highest-liquidity intraday instrument. Treat SCANNING as the default honest state: the engine only surfaces a play when sequential gates align.
Desk layout
Open `/dashboard` on a wide screen for the intended experience. On mobile, panels stack with Trade Alerts first; on xl breakpoints you get a true command center: left GEX matrix, center play engine, right Largo commentary. The left rail is matrix-only — no Benzinga scroll, live tape, or interval-flow panels.
Optional halt banners sit above everything. A confirmed active halt blocks entries; a degraded halt feed does not block by itself (the engine fails open with a warning) — read that banner before interpreting any verdict below it, and manually verify no active halt exists.
Scan top-to-bottom, left-to-right during the open: header for regime → left matrix for strike context → center for actionable verdict → right rail for narrative synthesis. Do not start in the commentary rail and work backward.
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.
Trading halt banners
Top of page — above header
Exchange halt awareness and feed health. A confirmed active halt on a watched symbol blocks new entries regardless of play engine state. A degraded halt feed does NOT block entries by itself — the engine fails open and warns instead, since blocking every entry on a transient feed gap was too aggressive.
What it shows
- Active halts: symbol, halt type, reason
- Halt feed degraded warning during an active session when the channel hasn't updated
How to consume
Read this first every time you land on the desk. A green play card means nothing if the TRADING HALT banner is showing — that one blocks entries for real. The degraded-feed banner is a caution, not a block: manually verify no active halt exists before entering.
TipHalts on SPX or related indices can freeze the entire 0DTE thesis — do not try to trade through them.
SpxSniperHeader
Full-width top bar
Session command bar: spot price, volatility context, trend structure, and the scalar GEX summary that frames every other panel.
What it shows
- Hero SPX price with animated tick and session % change
- Inline pills: VIX, VWAP (bull/bear tint by above_vwap), net GEX
- Metric blocks: EMA 20/50/200, SMA 50/200, HOD/PDH, LOD/PDL
- Right cluster: market status, FreshnessChip (live/stale/offline), Regime, γ Flip, Max Pain, IV Rank
What you can do
- Display only — no clicks required; use FreshnessChip to judge data trust
How to consume
Establish regime in ten seconds: Is spot above or below VWAP? Where is gamma flip relative to price? Is IV Rank elevated (expensive premium) or compressed? Regime and flip together tell you whether dealer hedging is likely to dampen or amplify moves. Only after this scan should you read the play engine.
TipFreshnessChip goes stale if polled data is older than ~90s or feed_stalled is set — do not size up on stale structure.
SpxGexMatrixHeatmap
Left rail (matrix-only — no tape or news panels)
Compact multi-expiry dealer GEX/VEX matrix with spot row, per-column kings, and 0DTE-scoped flip totals.
What it shows
- Lens toggle: GEX vs VEX
- γ flip and net exposure for the active 0DTE (or front-expiry) column
- Sticky grid: Strike × expiry columns with signed dollar cells
- Spot row highlight, king nodes (★), column max +/- gamma walls
- Cross-validation note when UW oracle diverges from Polygon walls
- Matrix as-of timestamp and stale badge when GEX is aged
What you can do
- Toggle GEX / VEX lens
- Auto-scroll keeps the spot strike row centered when price moves
How to consume
Use this panel to validate wall quotes from the header before sizing. Bright positive GEX above spot often acts as a speed bump; negative GEX below can accelerate breaks. Switch to VEX when vol is moving faster than price — vanna exposure shifts when IV changes. Cross-check flip location here against Thermal when the trade depends on a level.
TipThe matrix is the visual proof behind scalar call/put walls — if Slayer says call wall at 6050, find that strike here before entry.
SpxTradeAlerts (Play Engine)
Center column — hero panel
Actionable 0DTE trade state: engine verdict, option ticket, confirmations, confluence, play history, and optional lotto dock.
What it shows
- Header: PLAY ENGINE / Trade Alerts with LIVE or OFFLINE badge
- Scanning state when no open play or market closed copy off-hours
- Hero when live: action (BUY CALL/PUT, SELL, HOLD, TRIM, WATCH, SCANNING), headline, option ticket, thesis, grade, score, confidence %
- Entry / stop / target grid and invalidation line
- Claude verdict on BUY states
- Confirmations panel: pass/fail gates, 5m trend/RSI/3m close/MTF, WATCH metadata, telemetry, warnings
- Confluence factors (top 10) and play log (last 9 entries)
- LottoPlayBlock (7:00–10:30 AM ET): phase, contract, targets, triggers, flow/intel, sizing
What you can do
- Passive audio cue on SCANNING→BUY or SCANNING→WATCHING transitions
- No click-to-trade — use ticket details for your broker
How to consume
Wait for a non-SCANNING verdict during live session before acting. When BUY appears, read confirmations first — failed gates explain why prior scans did not fire. Honor entry, stop, and target as sized at gate evaluation; invalidation is the hard thesis break. WATCH means conditions are forming, not permission to front-run. Use confluence factors to understand why the engine scored the setup, not as a checklist to override the verdict.
TipIf confirmations show MTF or flow failures while headline looks bullish, trust the gate layer — the engine is filtering noise.
SpxCommentaryRail (Largo feed)
Right rail
Largo's live trading signal: a pinned bias read (direction, conviction, dealer mechanic, posture) plus a transition-only tape-event feed — only what changed, with its trade implication.
What it shows
- Pinned bias card: direction-colored header (e.g. BEARISH · 4/4 aligned), a 3–4 sentence read, and up to 3 trigger levels that would flip the bias
- Tape events, newest first: γ-flip crossings, king wall migrations, walls building/fading, VWAP reclaim/reject, EMA-stack flips, structure breaks, expected-move tags, play armed/fired/closed
- Offline copy tuned to session (weekend, premarket, extended, closed)
- Quiet-tape notice when nothing has changed since the pinned read
What you can do
- Collapse/expand the rail
How to consume
Read the pinned card first: direction + conviction tells you calls, puts, or wait; the trigger levels are the exact prices that change that answer. The event feed is your tape narrator — green events favor calls, red favor puts, amber means caution/chop. When offline, read the tone-specific hero — it tells you why the rail is quiet. For deep follow-up questions, open full Largo on `/terminal`.
TipIf the feed is quiet, that IS the signal — nothing structural has changed, so the pinned read still stands.
How it works
GEX walls and gamma flip are computed from the live chain each engine cycle. Flow bias compresses HELIX-style institutional direction into an engine input.
Sequential gate logic
Entry gates (GEX regime, VWAP, EMA stack, flow bias, R:R) → BlackOut Intelligence verdict → option ticket builder → play open. Any failure keeps the desk in SCANNING.
Verdict states
APPROVE_BUY / APPROVE_SELL open a directional play. SCANNING means conditions are not simultaneously satisfied — not a bug.
Key levels
Call wall, put wall, gamma flip, King node, and VWAP define the structural session. IV Rank flags expensive vs cheap premium environments.
Data merge cache
Session storage preserves merged desk across quick refreshes (7.5s write throttle). Midnight ET rollover resets session context automatically.
Step-by-step workflow
Pair with Night Hawk pre-market and HELIX intraday. This workflow assumes RTH unless noted.
- 1
Pre-market context
Review Night Hawk Evening Edition for GEX levels and bias. Note invalidation before the open.
- 2
Land on the desk
Check halt banners and FreshnessChip. Read header for flip, VWAP, and IV Rank.
- 3
Validate structure
Scroll the left matrix to confirm walls and flip zone. Cross-check in Thermal if sizing at a level.
- 4
Wait for verdict
Do not front-run SCANNING. Read confirmations when a BUY or WATCH state appears.
- 5
Execute with discipline
Honor stop and target from the play card. Journal the entry immediately.
- 6
Confirm with flow
Keep HELIX visible. Counter-flow at walls is a valid early exit signal.
Best practices
Do
- Use gamma flip as the primary regime switch.
- Cross-check walls in Thermal before sizing at a level.
- Reduce size when IV Rank is elevated.
- Honor published stops — R:R was sized at gate evaluation.
- Read panel reference top-to-bottom on first visit each session.
Don't
- Don't trade against SCANNING by anticipating the engine.
- Don't confuse IV Rank with IV Percentile.
- Don't treat walls as guaranteed S/R — they are dealer hedge concentrations.
- Don't over-size 0DTE — gamma accelerates into the close.
- Don't ignore halt banners or stale freshness chips.
Connected tools
BlackOut is one pipeline. These desks share the same GEX, flow, and intelligence layers.
FAQ
Why SCANNING during a strong trend?
Trend alone is insufficient. VWAP extension, R:R at walls, flow confirmation, and AI approval must align concurrently.
How are GEX walls different from chart S/R?
Walls are forward-looking dealer hedge obligations from open interest — mechanistic, not memory-based.
Why does the matrix have its own poll if the header already shows GEX?
The header summarizes session scalars; the matrix shows per-strike distribution and supports VEX lens — essential for precision entries.
What is the lotto dock?
A separate 0DTE setup engine active 7:00–10:30 AM ET with its own poll cadence. It complements, not replaces, the main play engine.
Key terms
Engine
- SCANNING
- Default state — one or more gates failed; no play is open.
- King node
- Strike with highest absolute session GEX — intraday gravitational center.
- FreshnessChip
- Live/stale/offline indicator for merged desk polling health.
Open SPX Slayer
Launch the live SPX Slayer desk and apply this chapter in real time.