Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) 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.
Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) operates in the Real Estate sector, specifically the REIT - Mortgage industry, with a market capitalization near $1.28B, listed on NYSE, employing roughly 54 people, carrying a beta of 1.01 to the broader market. The Loans segment originates conduit first mortgage loans that are secured by cash-flowing commercial real estate; and originates and invests in balance sheet first mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate properties that are undergoing transition, including lease-up, sell-out, and renovation or repositioning. Led by Brian Richard Harris, public since 2014-02-06.
Snapshot as of May 13, 2026.
- Spot Price
- $10.02
- Max Pain Strike
- $10.00
- Total OI
- 3.4K
As of May 13, 2026, Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) max pain sits at $10.00, which is essentially at the current spot price of $10.02 (0.2% away). Spot is essentially pinned to max pain right now; the gravitational center and the actual price coincide, the regime where end-of-cycle pinning is mechanically most plausible. LADR is a low-priced underlying (spot $10.02), where $0.50 or finer strike spacing increases the number of viable pin candidates and dampens the dominant-strike effect. Total open interest across the listed chain is comparatively thin (3.4K contracts), so single-strike pinning is less reliable than it is for high-OI names. LADR is currently in positive dealer gamma ($129.0K), 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.
LADR Strategy Implications at the Current Max Pain Level
With spot effectively pinned the $10.00 max-pain level and Ladder Capital Corp 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 LADR max pain analysis questions
- What is the current LADR max pain strike?
- As of May 13, 2026, Ladder Capital Corp (LADR) max pain sits at $10.00, which is 0.2% below the current spot price of $10.02. Max pain identifies the strike at which aggregate option-buyer payouts at expiration are minimized; it is a gravitational reference, not a price target. LADR is essentially pinned right now - the gravitational center and the actual price coincide.
- Does LADR pin to its max pain strike at expiration?
- LADR 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 LADR (3.4K 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 LADR 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 LADR 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. LADR put/call OI ratio is 0.13 - call-heavy, which biases the max-pain calculation toward strikes above current spot when the call OI concentrates there.