A negative-gamma regime — price below the gamma flip, net gamma negative — is a different market. Dealer hedging amplifies moves instead of dampening them, so the instincts that work in calm, positive-gamma tape become liabilities. The fix is a deliberate mode switch.
The rules that change
Respect trend, don't fade it. The single most expensive error is shorting strength or buying weakness into an amplifying tape — the move you're fading is the one the hedging is fueling. Trade momentum, not reversion: breaks of levels run further and pins hold worse, so continuation setups beat fades. Size down: range and speed are higher, so the same stop distance is a bigger dollar risk — smaller positions keep the volatility survivable. Widen stops or stand aside: tight mean-reversion stops get run by ordinary negative-gamma noise.
In negative gamma, the market rewards patience and momentum and punishes cleverness. Trade less, chase confirmed breaks, and keep size small.
Where the edges still are
The walls still matter, but their meaning shifts: a wall that breaks can accelerate rather than reverse, so it's a launch point, not a fade. The put wall is a floor until it isn't — a decisive break of it can feed the spiral. Trade with those as trigger levels for continuation, not as automatic bounce spots.
The exit sign
The regime ends when price reclaims the flip or dealers finish rebalancing — that's your cue to switch back toward fades and pins. Until then, the honest posture in negative gamma is humble: smaller, slower, trend-following, and quick to stand aside. Getting run over is optional; it comes from trading the wrong regime's playbook.