State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) 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.
State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) operates in the Financial Services sector, specifically the Asset Management industry, with a market capitalization near $4.55B, listed on AMEX, carrying a beta of 1.26 to the broader market. The State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF seeks to provide investment results that, before fees and expenses, correspond generally to the total return performance of the S&P Aerospace & Defense Select Industry Index (the "Index")Seeks to provide exposure to the Aerospace & Defense segment of the S&P TMI, which comprises the following sub-industries: Aerospace & DefenseSeeks to track a modified equal weighted index which provides the potential for unconcentrated industry exposure across large, mid and small cap stocksAllows investors to take strategic or tactical positions at a more targeted level than traditional sector based investing public since 2011-09-29.
Snapshot as of May 15, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $261.37
- Max Pain Strike
- $235.00
- Total OI
- 1.5K
As of May 15, 2026, State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) max pain sits at $235.00, which is below the current spot price of $261.37 (10.1% away). Spot sits 10.1% below max pain - the gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the actual price path before any expiration pull. XAR trades in the standard mid-price band (spot $261.37), with listed strikes typically $1-$5 apart and balanced single-leg vs multi-leg flow. Total open interest across the listed chain is comparatively thin (1.5K contracts), so single-strike pinning is less reliable than it is for high-OI names. XAR is currently in positive dealer gamma ($635.6K), the regime that mechanically reinforces pinning by inducing dealers to buy weakness and sell strength near heavy-OI strikes. Max pain identifies the strike at which the aggregate dollar value of all outstanding options contracts would expire with the least total intrinsic value, a gravitational reference rather than a price target.
XAR Strategy Implications at the Current Max Pain Level
With spot 10.1% from the $235.00 max-pain level and State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF in a positive-gamma regime, where dealer hedging mechanically pulls spot toward heavy-OI strikes, strategy selection turns on cycle position and dealer positioning. Iron condors and credit spreads centered near the max-pain strike capture the typical end-of-cycle convergence when the regime supports pinning; ratio backspreads or directional debit structures fit names where catalyst flow is likely to overwhelm the hedging-driven pull. The gamma-exposure page shows the per-strike dealer book that determines whether hedging will reinforce or fight the pin.
Learn how max pain is reported and how to read the data →
Frequently asked XAR max pain analysis questions
- What is the current XAR max pain strike?
- As of May 15, 2026, State Street SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF (XAR) max pain sits at $235.00, which is 10.1% below the current spot price of $261.37. Max pain identifies the strike at which aggregate option-buyer payouts at expiration are minimized; it is a gravitational reference, not a price target. A 10.1% gap is wide enough that the pinning effect alone is unlikely to close it; expect catalyst flow, positioning unwinds, or rebalancing to drive the price path before any expiration pull.
- Does XAR pin to its max pain strike at expiration?
- XAR is currently in positive dealer gamma, the regime that mechanically reinforces pinning. Dealers hedging long-gamma books buy weakness and sell strength near high-OI strikes, which pulls spot toward those levels into expiration. Total open interest across XAR (1.5K contracts) is one input to how plausible a clean pin is - heavier total OI concentrated at fewer strikes raises the probability; thin OI spread across many strikes lowers it. Pinning is strongest in heavily-traded names with large open-interest concentrations at high-OI strikes during the final week of an OPEX cycle. Whether XAR actually pins on a given expiration depends on the OI distribution, the dealer-gamma sign, and the absence of catalyst-driven moves that overwhelm hedging-driven flow.
- How is XAR max pain calculated?
- Max pain is computed by summing the dollar value of all in-the-money options at each candidate settlement strike across listed expirations, then selecting the strike that minimizes total intrinsic-value payout to option buyers. The calculation uses the full open-interest distribution and weighs both calls and puts. XAR put/call OI ratio is 0.22 - call-heavy, which biases the max-pain calculation toward strikes above current spot when the call OI concentrates there.