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TLT

iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETFClose $84.68EOD only

Max Pain

$83.50

Next expiry May 27, 2026

Expected Move

±$0.75

0.9% from close

Price Gap

-1.18

Distance to max pain

IV Rank

Low premium

P/C OI

0.76

Slightly call-heavy

Consensus

7.5/10

Bullish tilt

Published snapshot: May 22, 2026 close

End-of-day snapshot

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

Published Snapshot

May 22, 2026 close

TLT Flow Report

Analysis based on market close April 7, 2026

Directional Theta Gang Flow Earnings Consensus

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You are viewing an older report from April 7, 2026. A newer flow report is available for May 22, 2026.

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Flow Verdict

Confidence:

6 / 10

base 5; +1 GEX positive (pinning); -1 GEX/flow contradict noted in base; +1 spot 0.2% from MP

Watch next session: Flow and OI changes at $87 call (pin magnet) — look for fresh buys vs closing; Expiry day put activity at $86 / 4/8 prints (large put volumes that push delta/gamma changes)

Flow Summary

Net premium: -$11.0M (slight net premium outflow, modest bearish by premium measure)

P/C volume ratio: 0.68 — call-dominant volume (calls > puts today)

P/C OI ratio: 0.61 — call-skew in OI (longer-term call concentration)

Intraday flow shows call volume dominance while premium dollars are slightly negative overall (net premium -$11.0M). Dealers sit with large positive GEX (+$820.0M) near the gamma flip (~$86), producing a pinning regime; smart money appears to be adding or defending call exposure around $87-$88 while significant put OI remains concentrated at $86 and below, producing mixed flow with a slight bullish pinning tilt.

Notable Prints

TLT 2026-05-22 $86.00 Put

Vol: 15,086

OI: 2,259

Vol/OI: 6.7x

IV: 12.5%

Notional: ~$2,021,524

Intent: Protective/Directional put accumulation (multi-week defensive position)

Dual read: Buy of puts (bearish/protective) OR dealer taking the other side (selling puts/collecting premium)

Read-through: Meaningful notional (~$2.0M). Large May-dated put volume at strikes near the current spot indicates institutions buying downside protection into the pin/gamma region; this is the largest directional-sized print and supports hedging interest beneath the $86-$87 pin.

TLT 2026-05-22 $88.00 Call

Vol: 15,219

OI: 2,436

Vol/OI: 6.2x

IV: 13.2%

Notional: ~$1,461,024

Intent: Directional call accumulation or calendar/diagonal leg

Dual read: Buy of calls (bullish) OR sell/overwrite into raised call demand (neutral to bearish for sellers)

Read-through: Large May call flow (~$1.46M notional) symmetric with sizeable May put flow; suggests two-way positioning into May with both protective puts and directional call exposure—consistent with mixed flow but reinforces dealer gamma near $87-$88.

TLT 2026-05-08 $88.00 Call

Vol: 2,100

OI: 252

Vol/OI: 8.3x

IV: 12.8%

Notional: ~$136,500

Intent: Near-term directional call buys / roll from front-month

Dual read: Fresh call buys (bullish) OR short-dated positioning by market makers (hedge/business flow)

Read-through: Moderate notional and elevated vol/OI. Adds to evidence of call demand around $88 across expirations — a potential short-term bullish signal but smaller than May-sized trades.

TLT 2026-04-15 $86.50 Call (ITM)

Vol: 4,721

OI: 834

Vol/OI: 5.7x

IV: 14.4%

Notional: ~$287,981

Intent: Front-month directional/roll activity into the 4/15 expiry (position adjustment around pin)

Dual read: Buy to open (bullish near-term) OR sell/close (profit taking/roll) depending on trade prints

Read-through: Notable front-month call activity at an ITM strike supports short-term pin pressure; since the gamma flip is ~ $86, dealers will be active hedging, amplifying moves toward the pin.

TLT 2026-04-08 $86.00 Put

Vol: 11,712

OI: 2,279

Vol/OI: 5.1x

IV: 15.6%

Notional: ~$70,272

Intent: Expiry-related positioning/close hedges into 4/8

Dual read: Front-week protective puts (bearish/hedge) OR closing/rolling of existing positions into expiry

Read-through: High volume into the 4/8 put suggests front-end hedging and expiry pin pressure; notional small relative to May flows but important because of immediate expiry dynamics.

Institutional Positioning

Call additions: Concentrated call build at $87.00-$88.00 across expirations (notable GEX +$227.7M at $87.00 and +$56.3M at $88.00); sizable May call flow (TLT 5/22 $88 call) indicates institutions taking bullish/structured exposure in the $87-$88 zone.

Put additions: Significant put accumulation centered at $86.00 (OI=114,362 overall; notable May put buy TLT 5/22 $86 put vol 15,086) and smaller clusters at $85.50 and $86.50 — evidence of downside protection around current spot.

GEX/DEX consistency: Yes — large positive GEX (+$820.0M) aligns with pinning near ~$86 and the near-term GEX concentration at $87.00 (+$227.7M). Flow is mixed but dealer gamma is providing a pin magnet consistent with positioning.

OI clusters: $87.00 call cluster (40,555 + 35,815 OI entries shown), $86.00 put cluster (114,362 overall), additional call OI at $90.00 and large structural call wall at $95-$110. These clusters create a near-term magnet zone around $86-$88 and a longer-run ceiling around $95.

Hedging evidence: Clear hedging: front-month expiry flows (4/8 and 4/15) and large May-dated puts point to protective positions/collars. Dealer delta hedging implied by positive GEX will encourage pinning around $86-$87.

Max pain context: Max pain is essentially flat around $86 across expirations; nearby expiries show $86-$86.50 pins, supporting the view that dealer hedging and concentrated OI will keep spot near the $86 area unless a large directional shock occurs.

Signal vs Noise

~TLT 4/15 $90.50 call (Vol 2,891 / OI 255) — low notional (~$11.6k) despite high vol/OI; likely noise or small directional/spec trade.

~Large front-week 4/8 put volume (TLT 4/8 $86 put Vol 11,712) — expiry-driven hedging/rolls rather than new multi-week directional conviction.

~High-frequency small strikes across expirations (many vol spikes with low notional) — likely market-maker inventory adjustments and expiry rolls, not pure directional signals.

~Some symmetric May buys (5/22 $86 put and $88 call) suggest structured positions or hedged directional trades (collars/diagonals) rather than outright directional one‑sided bets.

Key Conclusions

📌Pinning regime intact: dealer GEX +$820M and gamma concentration at $87.00/$88.00 keep TLT magnetized near $86-$87.

🔁Mixed flow: call volume dominates (P/C vol 0.68) while premium dollars are slightly negative (-$11.0M) — suggests both directional call demand and put-protection are occurring simultaneously.

🛡️Notable hedging: large May $86 puts (TLT 5/22 $86) are the biggest directional-sized print — evidence of institutional downside protection.

🐂Short-term bullish lean around $87-$88: multi-expiry call builds (notably at $87/$88) and front-month call activity (4/15 $86.50) imply institutions defending or buying exposure to the upside within the pin range.

🧭Watch the $87 call OI and front-week put flows into 4/8 — these will confirm whether pinning holds or gives way to a directional break.

How to Use These Reports

This flow reflects the market close on April 7, 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.