MenthorQ Levels Conversion

The Levels Conversion is one of the Key Feature of all MenthorQ Indicators. The Levels Conversion is available on all our integrations.

Futures and spot prices rarely match due to spreads, ratios, or fair value differences. Without conversion, your levels may be misaligned, leading to missed opportunities. The Levels Conversion tool ensures your analysis is always accurate and aligned with real market structure.

What is Levels Conversion?

MenthorQ’s access to the full option chain across futures, indexes, and ETFs means you can extract the most relevant levels—no matter where the liquidity is—and overlay them directly onto your preferred chart. Options data reveals where the biggest players are positioned. But here’s the challenge:

You might analyze gamma levels on the SPX options chain, but trade ES futures. Or you might spot key zones on QQQ, but execute on NQ. Without conversion, these levels won’t line up—because spot and futures prices rarely match.

Overlaying important gamma levels from one asset’s option chain onto another chart—like bringing SPX gamma zones onto your ES chart—lets you see where institutional flows and market maker positioning truly matter for your trading instrument. This bridges the gap between analysis and execution, so you’re never trading blind.

Levels Conversion Video Tutorial

Check our Full tutorial video for more clarity about Levels Conversions.

Access the Levels Conversion Indicator on TradingView

What are common Levels Conversions

These are some of the common Levels Conversions:

• SPX Gamma Levels to ES
• SPY Gamma Levels to ES
• QQQ Gamma Levels to NQ
• NDX Gamma Levels to NQ
• SPX Intraday Gamma Levels to ES
• QQQ Intraday Gamma Levels to NQ
• SPX Swing Trading Levels to ES
• QQQ Swing Trading Levels to NQ
• GLD Levels to GC
• DIA Levels to YM
• USO Levels to CL
• NVDA and MAG7 Levels to QQQ

Why is Levels Conversion needed?

Futures (ES, NQ) don’t trade at the exact same price as their index/ETF (SPX, NDX, QQQ).
So if your levels are built on spot (or ETF), you must convert them to line up on futures. Here we can see the last price of ES, SPX and SPY and NQ, QQQ and NDX. We can immediately see how the prices are different.

You can convert using either Spread or Ratio. Here is the calculation

• Spread = Futures Price – Index Price (ES-SPX )
• Ratio = Futures Price / Index Price (ES/SPX)

Formulas for Futures vs. Spot Levels Conversion

1. Understanding the Price Difference

Futures prices (e.g., ES, NQ) do not trade at the same price as their respective indices (e.g., SPX, NDX). This is because of factors like fair value, interest rates, and dividends.

To properly align levels, we need to adjust for this difference using one of the following:

• Spread (Absolute Difference)
• Ratio (Proportional Difference)

2. Spread Formula

This is the formula to calculate the Spread:
Spread = Futures Price − Index Price

Example:

• ES (S&P 500 Futures) = 5000
• SPX (S&P 500 Index) = 4975

Spread = 5000−4975 = 25 points

3. Ratio Formula

This is the formula to calculate the Ratio:
Ratio = Futures Price / Index Price

Example:

• ES = 5000
• SPX = 4975

Ratio = 5000 / 4975 = 1.005

Example: Converting QQQ Levels to NQ

Once of the common use case is to convert levels from the index or ETFs to the Futures. In this example we will be converting QQQ Levels to NQ. Let’s say that QQQ quotes at $500 while NQ is trading at 21000.

Now let’s calculate the Ratio. To calculate the ratio we use the formula above and divide NQ Price by QQQ price.

Ratio= 21000 / 500 = 42

Now let’s look at the levels for QQQ: Call Resistance, 515, Put Support, 480, HVL, 510, 1D Min, 484.5, 1D Max, 499.08, Call Resistance 0DTE, 490, Put Support 0DTE, 486, HVL 0DTE, 489, Gamma Wall 0DTE, 490, GEX 1, 485, GEX 2, 495, GEX 3, 484.78, GEX 4, 489.78.

To convert these levels to NQ we need to multiply each level by the ratio of 42.

Conversion Options: Manual Ratio vs Auto Ratio

The MenthorQ Level Indicators already manage the conversion. The indicator allows manual or auto conversion.

1. Manual Conversion (User-Controlled)

What It Is:

• The trader manually calculates the spread or ratio and updates their indicator settings.

How It Works:

• At the start of the trading day, the trader checks the latest price difference (spread) or price proportion (ratio) between futures (e.g., NQ) and the underlying index (e.g., QQQ).
• They then input this value into the indicator to correctly align levels.

Formula Used:

• Spread: NQ Price - QQQ Price
• Ratio: NQ Price ÷ QQQ Price

Example:

• At the market open, QQQ is trading at 500, and NQ is at 21,000.
• The trader calculates the spread (21,000 – 500 = 20,500) and enters it into the indicator.
• If using the ratio method (21,000 ÷ 500 = 42), they input 42 into the indicator instead.
• The process needs to be repeated daily or whenever necessary to stay accurate.

Pros:

• Allows traders to manually verify accuracy.
• Simple and effective for short-term trading.
• Works well when the spread remains stable.

Cons:

• Time-consuming (must be done daily or intraday).
• Prone to human error.
• Doesn’t automatically adjust for intraday fluctuations in spread/ratio.

2. Auto Conversion (Indicator-Driven)

What It Is:

• The indicator automatically calculates the spread/ratio based on the previous day’s closing price and applies it to today’s levels.

How It Works:

• The indicator fetches the last closing price of both the futures (e.g., NQ) and the underlying index (e.g., QQQ).
• It computes the spread or ratio and applies the adjustment automatically.
• As the market opens, levels are already adjusted without user intervention.

Formula Used:

• Spread: Previous Close (NQ)−Previous Close (QQQ)
• Ratio: Previous Close (NQ)Previous Close (QQQ)​

Example:

• Yesterday’s close:
  • QQQ closed at 500
  • NQ closed at 21,000
• The indicator automatically calculates:
  • Spread: 21,000 - 500 = 20,500
  • Ratio: 21,000 ÷ 500 = 42
• The indicator applies the updated values without user input.

Pros:

• No manual updates required—saves time.
• Eliminates human error in inputting values.
• Ensures consistent and accurate level placement.
• Best for intraday traders who want real-time accuracy.

Cons:

• Uses the previous day’s closing values, which might not reflect real-time fluctuations.
• If the spread changes significantly intraday, the levels could become slightly misaligned.

Why Manual Ratio can lead to more precision

Manual Ratio can be used if you want the most precise alignment right now, especially intraday or on days when the basis is moving.  Because futures trade 24/5 while stocks/ETFs only trade during regular hours (and “close” at 4:00pm ET), the ratio can shift depending on when you measure it. 

Auto Ratio is best for speed and consistency: it uses the end-of-day closing prices to set the day’s conversion automatically, which is usually “good enough” for most sessions. The key tradeoff is timing—if the “official close” for the ETF and the relevant futures close/settlement aren’t captured at the same moment, the Auto Ratio may reflect a slightly mismatched snapshot. 

Manual Ratio solves that by letting you calculate the ratio using prices from a time window when both instruments are actively trading, so your converted levels stay tighter to the live market.

We have created an indicator that will calculate the ratio for you using different time of day.

Access the Levels Conversion Indicator on TradingView

Common mistakes from users

One of the biggest problems traders run into is overcomplicating the setup. Keep it simple and you’ll get far more consistent results.

Here’s the key: the ratio only needs to be updated once per day. That’s it—set it, and let the levels do their job.

And if you care about consistency across platforms, make sure you’re using the same ratio method everywhere. If you run AutoRatio on TradingView but use a manual ratio on NinjaTrader, your levels won’t necessarily line up in the same spots. Different ratio inputs = different level placement.

So the rule is simple:

• Multiple platforms? Use the same manual ratio on all of them for alignment.
• Mixing AutoRatio and manual? Expect slight (or not so slight) differences in where levels print.
• When using Manual Ratio use the ratio during market hours when both Futures and Indices/ETFs are trading (from 9.31 EST to 4pm EST)

How to convert Levels without a Data Feed of Prices in your Trading Platform

With most of our integrations — including NinjaTrader, Sierra Chart, TradingView, and TrendSpider — you can take advantage of our Auto Ratio Conversion feature. While TradingView offers a free data feed to all users, some of the other platforms may have limitations and will require a separate data feed.

What does this mean for you?

To run an Auto Ratio conversion, the indicator needs access to both the price of the underlying Index or ETF and the Futures contract you want to convert to. If one of these price feeds is missing because the platform requires (and you don’t have) a data feed subscription, the indicator won’t be able to complete the calculation and will return an error.

What can you do?
If your platform requires a data feed, you have two options:

• Subscribe to the relevant feed directly within your trading platform to enable full Auto Ratio functionality.
• Use manual conversion instead. This allows you to enter the ratio yourself, so you can still use the indicator without paying for an additional feed — although you’ll need to update it manually if market conditions change.

By ensuring you have the right data setup — whether through an integrated feed or manual input — you can keep your analysis running smoothly without interruptions.

Checkout our Trading Integrations Tutorial Videos.