DTE Filters: How to Use Expiration Filters in GEXBoard
- ALL = full structural picture across all expirations. Use as your default.
- 0DTE = intraday pinning forces from same-day options. Use on expiration days.
- 1DTE = next session's gamma concentration. Use pre-market for next-day context.
- WEEK = weekly expiration structure. Use for 2-3 day swing trades.
- MONTH = monthly options cycle. Use for OpEx week targets and longer swing trades.
- If 0DTE and ALL walls differ significantly, expect more intraday volatility as the structures conflict.
What are DTE Filters?
DTE (Days To Expiration) filters let you isolate the gamma contribution from a specific slice of the options chain. The full options chain for SPY contains contracts expiring on dozens of dates — from today (0DTE) all the way through LEAPS multiple years out. When you select "0DTE", the GEX chart shows only the gamma from options expiring today.
This separation is powerful because different expiration windows tell different stories:
- Short-dated options (0DTE, 1DTE) carry explosive gamma near the money that can dominate intraday price action — but they expire quickly and don't represent the multi-week structural picture.
- Longer-dated options (WEEK, MONTH) carry more stable, structural gamma that represents where institutions have positioned themselves for multi-day or multi-week outcomes.
Using DTE filters correctly means you can switch your analytical lens depending on your time frame.
ALL — The Default View
The ALL filter aggregates GEX from every expiration in the options chain — 0DTE through LEAPS. This is the default and the most commonly useful view.
What it shows: The complete structural landscape. Call Walls and Put Walls identified in this view represent the dominant dealer positioning across the entire market — not just today's expirations.
Best for:
- Identifying structural Call Walls and Put Walls that will matter for multiple days or weeks
- Understanding the dominant dealer regime (Long Gamma vs Short Gamma)
- Swing trade context — where is price likely to find resistance and support over the next 3-10 days?
- Starting any analysis session — ALL is always your first view
0DTE — Same Day Expiration
The 0DTE filter isolates gamma from options expiring today only. For SPY, 0DTE options exist on every trading day (Mon/Wed/Fri are the primary expirations, but SPY now has 5-day-a-week 0DTE).
What makes 0DTE gamma different: As expiration approaches, gamma becomes extremely concentrated near the at-the-money strike. A 0DTE option just 1 strike out of the money can have massive gamma relative to a contract expiring next week at the same strike. This concentration creates intense pinning pressure — price gets "glued" to the highest-gamma strike as the session progresses.
Best for:
- Identifying intraday pinning levels — particularly in the afternoon session (after 2pm ET) when 0DTE gamma is most dominant
- Understanding why price is "sticking" at a specific strike on a high-volume expiration day
- Identifying the most active 0DTE strikes for options flow analysis
1DTE — Next Session
The 1DTE filter shows gamma from options expiring tomorrow. This is a narrower view — useful for positioning analysis in the pre-market or late-day session.
Best for:
- Pre-market analysis: where is tomorrow's gamma concentration? These levels will dominate the early part of tomorrow's session before today's new 0DTE contracts fully develop.
- Late-day positioning: if a large 1DTE wall has built up, it may influence today's closing action as dealers pre-hedge ahead of tomorrow's open.
- Overnight gap risk assessment: large 1DTE concentration at a specific strike suggests dealers will be active in after-hours or pre-market to defend or hedge that level.
WEEK — This Week's Expirations
The WEEK filter includes gamma from all options expiring within the current week (through Friday). For SPY, this captures Monday, Wednesday, and Friday expirations.
What it shows: The combined gamma structure that will exist through end of week. Weekly Call Walls and Put Walls represent where dealers have the most concentrated positions for the remainder of the week.
Best for:
- 2-3 day swing trades — where will structural resistance and support sit through Friday?
- Monday morning analysis — what does the full week's gamma structure look like?
- Identifying the "gravity" targets that price may pin near by Friday expiration
MONTH — Monthly Expiration
The MONTH filter shows gamma from the monthly options cycle — typically the third Friday of the month (standard monthly expiration). Monthly options traditionally carry the deepest open interest of any expiration cycle.
Why monthly options create the most powerful walls: Institutional investors — pension funds, hedge funds, mutual funds — primarily use monthly options for hedging and structured positions. Monthly expirations aggregate far more open interest than any single weekly expiration. The structural levels they create are correspondingly more powerful and more resistant to being breached.
Best for:
- Longer-term swing trades lasting 1-3 weeks
- Identifying the monthly "target" or "pin" level — where is the market most likely to close on monthly OpEx?
- OpEx week planning (the week of monthly expiration) — the MONTH filter shows exactly where the heaviest dealer positions will be rolled or unwound
- Identifying truly structural Call Walls and Put Walls that have multi-week staying power
Combining Filters for Context
The real power of DTE filters is using them together as a contextual layering tool. Here's the workflow:
| Step | Filter | What You're Looking For |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | ALL | Complete structural picture. Identify the dominant Call Wall, Put Wall, and regime. |
| 2 | MONTH | Where are the deep, institutional-grade structural levels? This is your "destination" for the month. |
| 3 | WEEK | What's the structure for this week? How does it align or conflict with the monthly levels? |
| 4 | 0DTE (on expiration days only) | What are the intraday pinning levels? Do they align with or conflict with the ALL/WEEK levels? |
Explore DTE filters live
Switch between ALL, 0DTE, WEEK, and MONTH in real time on the GEXBoard dashboard. See how the structural picture changes across expiration windows.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the chart look different with 0DTE selected?
0DTE options have extremely concentrated gamma near the at-the-money strike. When you filter to 0DTE only, the chart typically shows one or two very large bars at the strikes nearest to current price, with much smaller bars further out. This is because gamma decays rapidly away from the ATM strike as expiration approaches — the same mathematical principle that makes 0DTE options so explosive near the money and so worthless far away from it.
What is OpEx and why does it matter?
OpEx (Options Expiration) refers to the monthly options expiration date — typically the third Friday of each month. During OpEx week, the monthly options carry the most concentrated open interest of any expiration cycle. Dealers must either roll (close and re-open) or allow expiration of massive positions. This creates unusually strong pinning forces and, occasionally, sharp moves when major structural levels are breached. OpEx week tends to be higher volatility than other weeks in a non-trending market.
When do 0DTE options expire exactly?
For SPY (and most equity ETF options), 0DTE options expire at the close of trading at 4:00pm ET. The actual settlement is based on the closing price of the underlying. Gamma for 0DTE options becomes theoretically infinite at the money as expiration approaches — this is why the final 30-60 minutes of trading on an expiration day can be very volatile, as dealers must make large delta adjustments based on whether price closes above or below the key strikes.