QQQ Just 'Gamma Flipped' as Market Makers Were Forced to Sell. Here’s What Our Top Chart Expert is Tracking Next.

QQQ Just 'Gamma Flipped' as Market Makers Were Forced to Sell. Here’s What Our Top Chart Expert is Tracking Next. Barchart Insights Tue, August 18, 2026 at 6:03 PM GMT+2 2 min read QQQ Nasdaq headqwaters on Times Square, New York City by Goran Vrhovac via Shutterstock The stock market gapped lower to start the week, pressured by the latest rise in long-term bond rates and the Wall Street Journal's reporting that artificial intelligence (AI) hyperscalers are on the hook for another $3 trillion in debt and purchase obligations over the next few years.

The Invesco QQQ Trust (QQQ), which tracks the Nasdaq-100 Index ($IUXX), "gamma flipped" at 725, forcing market makers to follow the market. In other words, they're forced to sell as prices fall in order to hedge their open positions (e. g.

, puts they have sold). More News from Barchart Huge Unusual Long-Dated Call Options in Oracle Corp - A Covered Call ORCL Play? Why There Might Be a Case for Taiwan Semiconductor Stock at $450 in September Alphabet Stock Has Attractive Short-Put Yields As GOOGL Stock Treads Water Our exclusive Barchart Brief newsletter is your FREE midday guide to what's moving stocks, sectors, and investor sentiment - delivered right when you need the info most.

Subscribe today! QQQ gamma exposure by strike through Aug. 21 expiry.

Currently, there is a cluster of puts at the 717/718 strike level. If prices were to fall below there, this would force the market makers to sell the QQQ, which in turn could spark a new wave of put buying and short positions. From a purely technical perspective, gaps represent the largest imbalance between buyers and sellers and are easily used as both confirmatory and predictive signals.

Looking through the Fibonacci lens, using the recent July 29 low and yesterday's high targets a 38. 2% retracement inside the previous gap up around 706. 50.

QQQ with Fibonacci levels. To learn more about options gamma and how it forces the hand of market makers, watch this clip from "Market on Close": –  John Rowland, CMT, is Barchart's Senior Market Strategist and host of  Market on Close. On the date of publication, Barchart Insights did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article.

All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. This article was originally published on Barchart.