Pinned Until 8:30 — SPX Morning Note, Aug 12, 2026

Key numbers

7,744: Premarket
7,800: Call wall
7,730: Gamma flip
7,700: Put wall
7,700–7,800: Range

CPI at 8:30. That's the session.

SPX closed 7,728 yesterday, down 25. Premarket is 7,744, up 16. Consensus wants 3.4% headline year-over-year, down from June's 3.5%, with core easing to 2.5% from 2.6%. Traders have a September hike near a coin flip going in. Oil is the reason nobody trusts the cooling story yet. Brent is holding near $90 and the Hormuz headlines are moving both ways this morning. Ten-year flat at 4.68%. The print settles which story the market prices.

We're 14 points above the gamma flip at 7,730. Positive gamma, barely. The call wall at 7,800 is 56 points above and it's the biggest node on the profile by a wide margin, with dense positive gamma from 7,775 into it. The put wall at 7,700 is dense, and 7,690 carries nearly as much negative right beneath it.

The structure leans long: a floor 44 points down, a heavy shelf overhead that pulls if the number cooperates, and prior demand at 7,734 sitting right on the flip. Bears need 7,730 gone fast on a hot print. Until that happens, dips into the flip are for buying.

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Big Picture Levels

7,678: 8 EMA (daily).
7,630: 13 EMA (daily).
7,585: 21 EMA (daily).
7,563: 8-week EMA.
7,547: 20 SMA (daily).
7,501: 50-day SMA.
7,359: 7,368 — 21-week EMA, 20-week SMA. Only Friday's close matters.
7,280: 100-day SMA.
7,060: 200-day SMA.

Today's Trading — range 7,700 – 7,800

7,800: Call wall. The dominant node. Ceiling.
7,780: Top of the positive shelf into the wall.
7,763.25: Prior resistance.
7,754.83: Prior resistance.
7,746.02: First pivot, right at premarket.
7,744: Premarket.
7,734.55: Prior demand, just above the flip.
7,730: Gamma flip. The regime line.
7,725.21: Prior demand.
7,712.90: 7,718.82 — Demand band between the flip and the put wall.
7,700: Put wall. Prior demand at 7,698 right on it.

GEX Profile (Aug 12)

Call Wall: 7,800. Biggest positive node by far, 56 points above. Dense positive gamma from 7,775 into it.
Gamma Flip: 7,730. 14 points below premarket. The print decides which side we open on.
Put Wall: 7,700. Dense, with 7,690 nearly as heavy right beneath it. Real fuel below if it breaks.

Call wall, gamma flip, put wall — what they mean and why they run the session.

Execution Levels

Long Plan

Entry	Why	Targets
Dip Buy: 7,734	The flip and prior demand together.	7,746, 7,755, 7,763
Deep Bid: 7,713	Demand band between flip and put wall.	7,725, 7,730, 7,746
Extreme: 7,700	Put wall plus prior demand at 7,698.	7,719, 7,730, 7,746
Reclaim: 7,780	Through the top of the shelf, the wall pulls.	7,790, 7,800, 7,805
Continuation: 7,810	Through the wall into positive gamma above. Orderly extension, not a squeeze.	7,825, 7,840, 7,855

Short Plan

Entry	Why	Targets
Fade pops to: 7,795	Into the call wall.	7,775, 7,763, 7,746
Breakdown: 7,730	Loss of the flip after the print. Regime shift.	7,719, 7,713, 7,698
Below 7,700	7,690 is next and it's heavy.	7,690, 7,681, 7,670

How the entry tiers and targets are built: the SPX 0DTE strategy guide.

VIX Levels

14.78 key
15.29
15.62
15.79
16.26
16.65
17.11 key

VIX is 15.39 into the print. 14.78 is the level below; 17.11 is where a hot number shows up first.

Educational research, not investment advice. Levels and the plan describe how the desk framed that session and are published after it closed.