Methodology — How the Rawstocks Desk Picks and Publishes Trades

In one paragraph

Before the open we map where option dealers are hedged and mark the strikes where their hedging either pins price or accelerates it. During the session we wait for price to reach one of those pre-marked levels with a liquidity sweep or imbalance behind it. If it does, the alert goes out in real time. When the position closes, its percentage result goes on the public record — win or loss, no exceptions.

1. Map dealer positioning before the open

Market makers who sell options hedge their exposure in the underlying. Where that exposure concentrates, their hedging becomes a mechanical force on price — suppressing movement in some regions and amplifying it in others. We chart gamma, charm and vanna across the strike ladder each morning to find those regions.

This is the part most retail strategies skip entirely, and it is why we can mark levels in advance rather than reacting to candles. Full explainer: gamma exposure explained.

2. Wait for structure at the level

A level on its own is not a trade. Price has to arrive there in a way that shows intent — a sweep of resting liquidity, a fair value gap, a break of structure on the timeframe we are trading. We are pairing a positioning thesis with a timing trigger. Either alone produces noise.

3. Manage the position against the level

The level that justified the trade is also what invalidates it. If price moves through it, the reason for the position is gone and the desk exits. We do not publish a fixed stop price with the alert — but every closed position is logged with its result, so a losing trade cannot be quietly reinterpreted as "still developing."

On these contracts a loss is frequently near-total. Short-dated options that move against you can lose almost all their premium, and our record shows exactly that. Size accordingly.

See these levels called live

The desk marks gamma levels before the open and posts the alert when price arrives. Seven days for $7.

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4. Size it so a wrong read is survivable

The desk sizes so that a full stop-out costs a fixed, known fraction of capital. This is the single largest determinant of whether a strategy with a positive edge actually compounds, and it is entirely within your control regardless of what the desk does. Run your own numbers with the position size calculator.

5. Log the outcome, win or lose

When the position closes, the row goes to the record — date, instrument, expiry, result and percentage return. Rows are never edited after publication. The log is the product; the alerts are just how it gets generated.

What we will not do

Publish a trade without logging how it ended. An alert with no recorded outcome cannot be scored, which makes it marketing rather than a trade.
Delete or revise a losing row. Once published, it stays.
Advertise a win rate. See why.
Alert illiquid contracts. If members cannot reasonably get filled near the posted price, the alert is worthless to them.