The Titan
The single strike carrying the largest reading on the board for that expiry. The rest of the ladder is measured against it.
What it is
The largest level on the map, either sign. It shows where the most exposure sits, not a level price must reach or hold. It is marked by the gem, a bold value and a thin edge in its own colour, and its strike and size sit in the top-right corner.
Size first, sign second
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. The largest level on the map by absolute size is where to look first. Æther calls that level the Titan.
Sign comes second. It tells you what kind of level you found. A large positive level tends to lean against moves. A large negative level tends to lean with them and can act as fuel. Both matter. A common mistake is to rank levels by colour and treat negative ones as less important. A large negative level can matter more than a small positive one.
Here is an invented example. Two levels are in view with sizes +40 and -90 in the same units. The -90 level is bigger in absolute terms, so it gets attention first. Then its sign tells you to read it as fuel rather than as a cushion.
None of this says which level price will reach or what it will do there. It only sets the order in which to read what you see.
Titan, Ceiling and Floor
The Titan can be the same strike as the Ceiling. The Titan tag adds that it is also the biggest level on the map.
Stacked Titans
Several large levels at one strike across expiries are Stacked Titans, found on the Titan Screen.
A Titan is a reading
Positions open and close, hedges change and options expire, so that size changes through the day. A level that looks large at 10:00 can be a fraction of that by 14:00.
- Read the time stamp first. An old reading is an old picture.
- After a gap, or on an expiry day, read the whole map again. Positions that expire drop out of it.