PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund (STPZ) Max Pain Analysis
Max pain is the strike price where aggregate option buyer payout is minimized at expiration. It represents the price at which option writers retain the most premium.
PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund (STPZ) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management - Bonds industry, with a market capitalization near $522.8M, listed on AMEX, carrying a beta of 0.26 to the broader market. The Fund is structured to deliver an overall return that, before accounting for its fees and operational costs, substantially matches the performance of the BofA Merrill Lynch 1-5 Year US Inflation-Linked Treasury Index. public since 2009-08-21.
Snapshot as of Aug 14, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $52.62
- Total OI
- 13
How to read the STPZ max-pain chart
The open-interest histogram above shows where PIMCO 1-5 Year U.S. TIPS Index Exchange-Traded Fund call and put writers have stacked the most inventory. Strikes with elevated call OI act as overhead resistance when dealers are long-gamma (they sell rallies into the wall); strikes with elevated put OI act as support (dealers buy dips toward the wall). The max-pain strike is the single price at which the total cash payout to option holders is minimized - the lowest-pain price for the writers as a group. . Net dealer gamma is negative at -$2.0K, so as spot moves dealers buy rallies and sell dips, mechanically amplifying realized volatility.
STPZ max-pain in context
Max pain is an end-of-cycle convergence signal, not an intraday compass. Cross-reference the level with the gamma-flip strike on the GEX page, the front-month ATM IV reading (currently 267.1%), and any catalyst risk on the calendar. Total listed OI on STPZ sits at 13 contracts; pin strength generally scales with this number, since heavier OI means more delta to hedge as spot drifts toward the strike. A pin can fail - earnings, FDA decisions, central-bank surprises, and other vol catalysts can rip spot past max pain regardless of where dealers want it. Use max pain to size risk-defined structures, not as a directional thesis.
Reading STPZ max-pain alongside dealer positioning
The clean version of the max-pain mechanism requires positive dealer gamma to enforce convergence; in a negative-gamma regime the same OI distribution can repel rather than attract spot. STPZ is currently in a negative-gamma regime, so dealer hedging amplifies rather than dampens directional moves - max-pain convergence is less likely without a separate stabilizing catalyst. Combine the pin level with the gamma-flip level and the implied move to model out where spot is likely to anchor through expiration.