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FXI

iShares China Large-Cap ETFClose $35.52EOD only

Max Pain

$36.50

Next expiry May 29, 2026

Expected Move

±$0.75

2.1% from close

Price Gap

+0.98

Distance to max pain

IV Rank

Middle-high premium

P/C OI

0.88

Slightly call-heavy

Consensus

4.0/10

Bearish tilt

Published snapshot: May 22, 2026 close

End-of-day snapshot

This page reflects FXI options positioning from the latest published market-close snapshot. Intraday price and contract changes are not displayed.

Published Snapshot

May 22, 2026 close

FXI Flow Report

Analysis based on market close April 13, 2026

Directional Theta Gang Flow Earnings Consensus

Historical consensus-supported lens with full content, report chain context, and metric rail.

You are viewing an older report from April 13, 2026. A newer flow report is available for May 22, 2026.

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Flow Verdict

Confidence:

6 / 10

base 6.0 (base 5; -1 GEX/flow contradict; +1 GEX pinning; +0.5 spot 1.3% from MP; +0.5 VIX 19)

Watch next session: Put flow and volume at $36.00 and $37.00 strikes (heavy OI + recent volume); Price action around $37.00 (pin magnet) and whether dealers absorb flow (GEX concentration +$110.9M)

Flow Summary

Net premium: -$1.7M bearish

P/C volume ratio: 1.60 — put-volume dominant (meaningful skew)

P/C OI ratio: 1.08 — put OI slightly larger than call OI (positioning biased to downside)

Flow is biased toward protection or bearish directional exposure: puts account for more traded premium and volume today, producing a net negative premium of $-1.7M. Dealers are net positive gamma (+$5.1M) and there are large put OI clusters near $36-$37 which create a pinning environment; expect price to test the $37 pin/magnet with downside pressure if selling continues.

Notable Prints

Aggregate $36.00 strikes (calls vs puts) - top premium flow

Vol: 2,724

OI: 117,509

Vol/OI: 0.0x

IV: 39.3%

Notional: ~$4.56M premium traded (Call $1,929,451 / Put $2,637,387 => Net -$707,936)

Intent: Net put buying / protective hedging at $36.00 (bearish or portfolio protection)

Dual read: Could be directional put buys (bearish) or institutions buying protection for long equity exposure (hedge).

Read-through: Large put premium and heavy volume at $36 with large OI suggests active put accumulation/hedging — adds downside weighting and increases likelihood of pinning pressure toward $36-$37.

$37.00 strikes (calls OI 91,179 / puts OI 152,503) — net premium flow favors calls in premium table

Vol: 1,382

OI: 152,503

Vol/OI: 0.0x

IV: 22.9%

Notional: ~$819k net call premium at $37 (Call $666,174 / Put $153,556 => Net +$512,618)

Intent: Fresh call purchases or sellable call flow around the pin (possible income trades or targeted upside exposure)

Dual read: Could be directional call buyers (bullish) OR covered-call/overwriting by institutions (neutral to mildly bearish).

Read-through: Despite overall put dominance, sizable call OI and positive call net premium at $37 supports dealer pinning to that strike (GEX +$110.9M). Expect price to gravitate to $37 absent large new sell pressure.

$42/$43 puts (top premium flow negative)

Vol: 0

OI: 0

Vol/OI: 0.0x

IV: N/A

Notional: ~$1.28M net put premium across $42/$43 lines (42: Put $710,128; 43: Put $606,790 => Net -$1,316,918 across both strikes vs small call flow)

Intent: Long-dated/OTM downside protection or skewed hedges (buyers of far OTM puts)

Dual read: Directional tail protection vs structured hedges for larger portfolios.

Read-through: Premium concentrated in higher-strike puts indicates institutions paying for downside protection beyond the immediate near-term strikes — supports the bearish flow narrative and willingness to pay for left-tail protection.

$38.00 calls (premium positive)

Vol: 8

OI: 34,389

Vol/OI: 0.0x

IV: 23.4%

Notional: ~$522k call premium (Call $521,916 / Put $40,086 => Net +$481,830 at $38)

Intent: Targeted upside exposure or defensive call buys to offset put-heavy books

Dual read: Directional upside vs synthetically hedging put-heavy positions.

Read-through: Smaller call premium at $38 provides some upside insurance for participants while the bulk of activity remains on the put side; not large enough to flip directional bias.

Institutional Positioning

Call additions: $37.00 and $38.00 show call premium/inflow (call OI clusters: $37.00 = 91,179 OI; $38.00 = 34,389 OI). Some call buying/overwriting around the $37 pin is evident.

Put additions: Concentrated put accumulation at $36.00 (OI 117,509, volume 2,724) and large put OI at $37.00 (152,503 OI) and $32.00 (124,166 OI) indicating downside protection and structural put floors.

GEX/DEX consistency: Partially consistent — GEX is positive (+$5.1M) and there is a strong GEX concentration +$110.9M at $37 which supports pinning, but flow regime is bearish (net premium -$1.7M) creating a minor contradiction already captured in the confidence base score.

OI clusters: Largest OI clusters create pins/walls: $37.00 (puts 152,503 OI; calls 91,179 OI) — strong pin magnet; $36.00 (put OI 117,509) — nearby support via dealer hedging; $40.00 call wall (33,583 OI) acts as resistance near upper bound.

Hedging evidence: Yes — significant protective put evidence at $36/$37 and longer-dated OTM put premium at $42/$43 suggests institutions are either hedging downside risk or buying directional downside exposure.

Max pain context: Max pain pins concentrated at $36 (4/17) and $37 (4/24) which align with GEX concentrations; spot ($36.46) is above MP but within the 2-week expected range, so dealers can reasonably pin near $37 if flow persists.

Signal vs Noise

~FXI260417C00051000 (Call $51 exp 4/17) — very OTM (40% from spot) with Vol=210 OI=105 and IV 129.7% — likely gamma/lottery OTM buying or flow from low-prob trades, not a directional read for near-term FXI.

~High notional on $42/$43 puts likely reflects longer-horizon protection (structured hedges) rather than immediate delta bets against near-term pin — treat as hedging rather than immediate directional trigger.

~Large call OI at $37 with small recent volume could be dealers/institutions holding income positions (overwrites) — isolated call prints without sustained premium flow are likely market-maker inventory adjustments.

Key Conclusions

🐻Overall flow is bearish: net premium -$1.7M and P/C volume ratio 1.60 indicate puts dominate traded risk today.

📌Pin risk centered at $37.00 — GEX concentration +$110.9M and Max Pain $37 create a magnet; watch whether spot holds below/around $37.

🛡️Evidence of institutional hedging: concentrated put OI at $36 and $32 plus premium spent at $42/$43 suggests protective behavior rather than pure directional shorting.

⚖️Dealer gamma is positive (+$5.1M) which helps dampen intraday moves — but bearish premium flow can still push price toward put clusters.

👀Watch $36.00 and $37.00 intraday volume — continued heavy put buying or a breakout through $36 would increase downside odds; failure to break and continued call selling/overwriting supports pinning.

How to Use These Reports

This flow reflects the market close on April 13, 2026.

What the reports do

Each report translates the same market-close options snapshot into a specific lens such as directional bias, premium-selling posture, flow quality, or earnings setup.

How traders use them

Reports are most useful for narrowing the playbook, surfacing entry and risk context, and deciding which raw data page to inspect next.

What to remember

These are interpretation layers, not execution guarantees. Validate the setup against chain liquidity, expected move, and exposure before sizing risk.

If the report conviction and the raw data disagree, slow down and resolve the mismatch before sizing risk.