Reading a map
Every Æther map has the same parts: header, strikes, tiles, tags, and a legend with a zero tick.
What the map shows
When traders buy and sell options, dealers usually take the other side. They hedge that exposure in the underlying, and they keep re-hedging as price moves. The map shows where that hedging is heaviest.
The header
- Price and change on the day
- Expiry and the as-of time
- Titan strike and size, then Ceiling and Floor
- The metric name and its net total
The ladder
- Strikes run high to low, like a price chart
- The highlighted tag is spot
- ±SD tags mark the expiry's implied range
- Ceiling and Floor tags mark the nearest significant levels
- Every tile prints its dollar value with its sign; a dot means nothing meaningful at that strike
Colour and the legend
The default colour scheme runs from deep navy at the map's most negative level, through grey, to bright yellow at its most positive. The legend under each map shows the real numbers, with a tick at zero.
Every map has its own scale, so compare names by the printed values, never by colour. Traditional (open interest) maps keep their own teal and purple so you can tell them apart at a glance.
What to read first
Every level answers two questions: how big is it, and which way does it lean? Size comes first. A small level of either sign is easy for other flows to overwhelm, so it rarely matters. Sign comes second. It tells you what kind of level you found.
- Read the time stamp first. An old reading is an old picture.
- Read the largest levels and their signs before the net reading.
- Ask whether a calm total is hiding two large levels of opposite sign.
What a map does not tell you
A large level on the map marks a price where something may happen. It does not say what will happen or whether to act. Treat it as the first line of a checklist, not the last.