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IWM

iShares Russell 2000 ETFClose $285.12EOD only

Max Pain

$279.00

Next expiry May 26, 2026

Expected Move

±$3.67

1.3% from close

Price Gap

-6.12

Distance to max pain

IV Rank

Low premium

P/C OI

2.72

Slightly put-heavy

Consensus

6.0/10

Consensus signal

Published snapshot: May 22, 2026 close

End-of-day snapshot

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

Published Snapshot

May 22, 2026 close

IWM Flow Report

Analysis based on market close April 9, 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 9, 2026. A newer flow report is available for May 22, 2026.

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Flow Verdict

Confidence:

6.5 / 10

base 5; +2 GEX/flow strongly aligned; -0.5 spot 4.8% from MP

Watch next session: Short-dated put prints around $261-$263 (4/10, 4/13) — continued heavy fill would confirm bearish hedging/buying; Pin/GEX behavior at $262–$264: whether spot holds inside EM guardrails $259.24/$264.67 or breaks lower toward max pain $250

Flow Summary

Net premium: -$58.0M bearish

P/C volume ratio: 2.72 — extreme put-dominant volume

P/C OI ratio: 2.51 — heavy put skew in open interest (structural protection/positioning)

Institutions and flow are clearly biased to the downside: large net premium outflows (-$58.0M) and an extreme P/C volume ratio (2.72) indicate sizable put buying and/or call selling, concentrated in short-dated expiries. Dealers show slight negative GEX (-$13.3M) while DEX is large long (169,346K shares) consistent with clients buying downside protection; the immediate read is protective/ directional put accumulation around the $256–$240 area with limited offsetting call demand.

Notable Prints

IWM 2026-04-10 $261.00 Put

Vol: 16,434

OI: 1,823

Vol/OI: 9.0x

IV: 26.6%

Notional: ~$1.63M

Intent: Short-dated directional/hedge buying (protective puts or outright bearish bets ahead of near-term expirations)

Dual read: Aggressive long puts (bearish/protective) or block dealer facilitation of client roll/closes

Read-through: Largest single short-dated put flow — meaningful size and concentrated at-the-money; suggests active demand for immediate downside insurance and increases probability of downside pressure into early expiries.

IWM 2026-04-24 $255.00 Put

Vol: 8,309

OI: 719

Vol/OI: 11.6x

IV: 25.1%

Notional: ~$2.04M

Intent: Multi-week hedging or directional put accumulation (larger notional and farther OTM than the 4/10 prints)

Dual read: Bought puts to add downside protection or part of a structured put stack/collar

Read-through: Institutional-sized accumulation in the $255 strike, converging with nearby max pain points ($255/$253) — implies sellers/dealers may need to hedge, imparting downward pressure if liquidations follow.

IWM 2026-04-10 $262.00 Put

Vol: 6,591

OI: 346

Vol/OI: 19.1x

IV: 25.6%

Notional: ~$910k

Intent: Immediate directional/hedge buying at-the-money for the 4/10 expiry

Dual read: Client buying protection vs dealer unwind/roll activity

Read-through: High relative activity and ATM moneyness amplify short-dated downside sensitivity — dealers may delta-hedge short gamma into the session which can accentuate intraday downside moves.

IWM 2026-05-22 $240.00 Put

Vol: 5,105

OI: 314

Vol/OI: 16.3x

IV: 28.0%

Notional: ~$1.19M

Intent: Long-dated protective put accumulation (longer horizon downside exposure)

Dual read: Speculative directional positioning for larger drawdown or collateral for structured trades

Read-through: Not insignificant notional further down the curve — shows institutions are also buying multi-week protection around $240 in case market deteriorates beyond immediate expiries.

IWM 2026-04-13 $260.00 Put

Vol: 4,533

OI: 201

Vol/OI: 22.6x

IV: 21.0%

Notional: ~$621k

Intent: Short-dated at/near-spot downside protection into 4/13 expiry

Dual read: Pure directional put buys or intraday hedging flows being pushed into front expiries

Read-through: Front-end ATM put demand is broad across 4/10 and 4/13 — if sustained, front-end gamma and dealer hedging will dominate price action near-term.

Institutional Positioning

Call additions: Localized call interest at higher strikes ($265.00 and $270.00 expiries show positive call premium flow) but much smaller than put flow; near-term call OI clusters: $260.00 (5,116 OI), $255.00 (4,214 OI), $250.00 (3,243 OI).

Put additions: Heavy put accumulation concentrated 230.00–250.00 and heavy short-dated buying at $256/$258/$260/$261/$262 across 4/10–4/24 expiries; top OI strikes include $245.00 (116,715 OI), $240.00 (108,991 OI), $230.00 (108,485 OI).

GEX/DEX consistency: Yes — negative total GEX ($-13.3M) with DEX long 169,346K shares aligns with client demand for downside protection; dealers are modestly short gamma and will hedge in ways that accentuate moves.

OI clusters: $245.00 put cluster (116,715 OI) and $240.00/$230.00 put clusters create concentrated support/floor interest below spot; on the call side near-term GEX pins at $262–$264 create short-term resistance/pin behavior.

Hedging evidence: Clear evidence of protective put buying — concentrated short-dated put prints (4/10, 4/13) and significant OI at $245/$240 indicate active hedging rather than isolated speculative trades. Limited evidence of collar structures in the data today.

Max pain context: Max pain is clustered around $250–$255 across nearby expirations (4/09 MP $250; 4/10 MP $255; 4/13 MP $253). Spot (~$261.96) sits above MP, so flow appears aimed at moving or protecting toward that MP band.

Signal vs Noise

~A cluster of prints on 4/10 and 4/13 (lots of short-dated put volume) likely includes expiration-driven hedging/rolls — some high vol/OI ratios reflect fresh buys but also dealer facilitation around expiries.

~Some long-dated put accumulation (e.g., 5/22 $240) may be part of multi-legged hedges or structured protection rather than pure directional leverage.

~Call notional at $265/$270 (positive net premium at $265 and $270) looks like smaller opportunistic bullish exposure or sell-side structured trades — not sufficient to offset the front-end put dominance.

~High vol/OI ratios on very small OI strikes can overstate significance; focus on notional and proximity to spot (e.g., 261/262/260 prints) for true directional signal.

Key Conclusions

🐻Flow is bearish: Net premium -$58.0M, P/C volume 2.72 and P/C OI 2.51 indicate substantial put buying and call selling pressure concentrated in short-dated expiries.

📌Pin risk around $262–$264: multiple GEX concentrations (+$6.5M–$7.7M) sit at $262/$263/$264 and will create near-term dealer hedging that can act as a magnet/resistance if spot tries to rally.

🛡️Protective demand is front-loaded: large ATM/near-ATM put prints for 4/10–4/13 (notably $261, $262, $260) show institutions buying immediate downside insurance — dealers will be short delta/gamma into these expiries.

🧱Put OI walls below spot: heavy OI at $245/$240/$230 creates a structural floor zone ($240–$250) that may slow declines and anchor max pain near $250–$255.

👀Watch whether short-dated put flow continues and whether spot moves below EM guardrail $259.24 — continued put demand with dealer hedging likely accelerates downside toward MP $250.

How to Use These Reports

This flow reflects the market close on April 9, 2026.

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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.

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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.