What is delta exposure (DEX)?

The size and direction of the market's options positioning, in dollars.

Delta exposure — DEX — measures the dollar amount of directional exposure carried by the open options interest at each strike. Where GEX tells you how dealer hedging will react to a move, DEX tells you how big the positioning is and which way it leans.

The formula

Per strike, DEX is delta × open interest × 100 × spot. Delta is each contract's share-equivalent sensitivity (a 0.50-delta call moves like 50 shares), open interest is how many contracts exist, 100 converts contracts to shares, and spot converts shares to dollars. Call deltas are positive and put deltas negative, so the signed sum is the market's net delta notional — no sign convention to memorize.

One number, one meaning

Positive DEX at a strike: call exposure dominates — the crowd's position there profits from upside. Negative DEX: put exposure dominates — it profits from downside. Total Net DEX sums every strike into a single directional-lean number for the whole chain.

Where to see it

Obelion's DEX view plots net delta notional by strike for any ticker, with a per-strike DEX heatmap below the chart. It reads from the same live chain as the GEX view, so the two are always comparable side by side.

Next DEX & the dealer's hedge book

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