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Dealer Flow
When Price Ignores Gravity: Reading a Trend Day
Gravity pulls — until it doesn't. When price stops reverting to the center and starts running from it, that failure is information.
NoVo Options Trading · 2026
Gravity is the center of mass of the dealer book, and in a calm regime it's a reliable magnet. But its pull depends entirely on the regime, and on a trend day the magnet doesn't just weaken — watching it fail tells you what kind of day you're in.
Why the magnet fails
Gravity pulls because positive-gamma hedging leans price back toward the center. Below the gamma flip, that hedging inverts and amplifies moves instead — so price accelerates away from gravity rather than returning to it. Even in positive gamma, a strong directional day with real order flow can overpower the pull. The magnet is a tendency, not a law.
Reversion to gravity is the calm-day base case. A clean break through it, with no snap-back, is the market telling you today isn't a calm day.
The failed magnet as a signal
This is the useful part: when price reaches gravity and keeps going — no reaction, no reversion — that failure is a trend-day tell. The level that should have pinned it didn't, which means the reversion flow isn't in control. That's your cue to stop fading and switch to a momentum posture.
How to trade it
Use gravity as a regime probe. If fades to gravity are working, you're in a range/reversion day — keep trading toward it. If price slices through it and doesn't look back, respect the trend, don't keep fading, and let the failed magnet reset your whole read of the session. A level ignored is as informative as a level respected.
More on this: Reading Price Action Around SPY's 5-Point Round Numbers · The EMA Ribbon on SPY: Reading Trend Slope at a Glance · Hidden RSI Divergence: Reading Trend Continuation
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NoVo is a software tool for market analysis and for executing trades you initiate, not financial advice. This article is general education, not investment advice. Options trading involves substantial risk of loss, up to and including your entire capital. NoVo makes no guarantee of profit, win rate, or performance, and past results do not predict future outcomes. You are responsible for your own broker account, configuration, and trading decisions.