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Cisco — Where open interest creates price support and resistance
Cisco (CSCO) operates in the Information Technology sector and has actively traded listed options. Open interest concentrates at the $55 put wall (13.5K contracts) and $85 call wall (20.9K contracts) — 30.0% below and 8.2% above spot. Dealer hedging at these levels amplifies moves rather than containing them — wall boundaries are less reliable. Wider spreads or defined-risk setups may be more appropriate in this gamma regime. See Strategy Builder for trade setups.
Where options dealers' hedging flows create support and resistance — max pain at $78.
These levels show where price may find support or resistance based on open interest positioning. Large put walls can act as magnets; call walls can cap upside.
Use wall levels to pick strikes — sell puts near put walls, sell calls near call walls.
Wall = Strike with highest open interest concentration across expirationsOpen interest by strike, gamma exposure (GEX) profile, max pain calculation
ORATS open interest and gamma data, updated daily
Walls are based on current OI positioning and can shift as traders open/close positions. GEX assumes most OI is dealer-held — retail-heavy OI produces less hedging flow. Treat as context, not prediction.
Walls from nearest liquid expiry — these reflect short-term hedging activity and may not represent longer-term positioning.
OI change tracker (1-day), wall strength score, and GEX trend chart — in active development.
This data is free for all users. No paywall — just not built yet.
Quantitative screening, not investment advice. Verify with your broker. Disclaimer
Cisco's current options landscape shows put support concentrated at $55 (13.5K contracts) with call resistance at $85 (20.9K). This creates a $55–$85 trading corridor that dealer hedging activity naturally reinforces. Compare this wall-to-wall range with the Expected Move to see how volatility-based ranges align with open interest boundaries.
Cisco's gamma exposure has turned negative (+1.2B), indicating that dealer hedging is now amplifying price moves rather than dampening them. When GEX is negative, dealers must sell into declines and buy into rallies — the opposite of the supportive mean-reverting flow that premium sellers prefer. The GEX flip point at $79.00 is the level where this regime would reverse. Until price reclaims that level, premium sellers should use defined-risk strategies (credit spreads over naked positions) and consider reducing position sizes to account for the elevated move amplification.
Cisco is currently trading at $78.56, inside the $55–$85 range defined by concentrated open interest. When price stays within the wall-to-wall corridor, dealer hedging flows work in favor of mean reversion — dips toward put support get bought, rallies toward call resistance get sold. This is the environment where premium selling strategies have the highest probability of success.
Cisco's strongest put wall (support) is at $55 with 13.5K open interest contracts, and the primary call wall (resistance) is at $85 with 20.9K contracts. This creates a trading range of $55–$85. Call-side open interest dominates, creating stronger overhead resistance than downside support.
Open interest walls represent concentrations of options positions at specific strikes. When dealers hold these positions, they must hedge by buying or selling shares as price approaches wall levels, creating natural support (put walls) and resistance (call walls). Cisco's gamma exposure is currently negative, which means dealer hedging can actually amplify moves through wall levels rather than defending them. In negative GEX environments, walls are less reliable as support/resistance, so premium sellers should use defined-risk strategies.
Cisco's net gamma exposure is 1.2B, meaning dealers are net short gamma and must hedge in the same direction as price movement — selling into declines and buying into rallies. This amplifies volatility rather than dampening it. The GEX flip point at $79.00 is where this dynamic reverses. Negative GEX environments typically produce larger daily moves, which is unfavorable for premium sellers. Consider using credit spreads instead of naked positions, or wait for GEX to turn positive before adding new short premium exposure.
Cisco's $55–$85 range spans 38.2%, wider than average. This spread suggests open interest is distributed across distant strikes, which can mean the market is pricing in a larger potential move — possibly around an upcoming catalyst like earnings or an industry event. For premium sellers, wider ranges mean wall support and resistance are farther from current price, providing more breathing room but also less concentrated dealer hedging at any single level.
Cisco's max pain at $77.5 is very close to the current price of $78.56. Max pain represents the price at which option holders collectively lose the most money at expiration. When price gravitates toward max pain (especially in the final days before expiration), it suggests that the cumulative hedging activity of dealers is creating a "pinning" effect. For premium sellers, max pain alignment is bullish — it indicates suppressed realized volatility near expiration, which is exactly what short options profit from.
With negative gamma exposure, favor defined-risk credit spreads over naked positions — place short strikes at wall levels but use wings to cap risk in case walls break. Wall data is most useful for strike selection — placing short strikes at or outside major open interest levels means your trade has dealer hedging flows working in your favor. Monitor daily for wall migration as open interest shifts.
Cisco has 1.54x more call open interest than put open interest at the primary wall levels. Call-heavy positioning can indicate bullish speculative interest (traders buying calls expecting upside) or heavy covered-call writing by shareholders. For premium sellers, this means call-side resistance is likely stronger than put-side support — call credit spreads above the $85 wall may benefit from heavier dealer selling pressure, while put-side trades have less concentrated support to rely on.