Pin Risk
Pin Risk — Settlement risk when spot gravitates toward large open-interest strikes.
Definition
Pin Risk refers to settlement risk when spot gravitates toward large open-interest strikes. Keep that definition fixed when comparing series, managers, or regimes — renaming the same tape does not create a new signal.
Why it matters
Options and futures embed views on vol, skew, and path that cash markets only hint at. When settlement risk when spot gravitates toward large open-interest strikes shifts, related hedges, limits, and narratives usually need an explicit update rather than a quiet assumption.
Case
Suppose a desk is positioned for the opposite of what pin risk is saying. If settlement risk when spot gravitates toward large open-interest strikes moves against that book, the first question is not “is the story clever?” but whether size, hedges, and stop logic still match the observation.
How to read it
State the expiry and Greek exposure; unmarked vol or pinning effects rewrite the thesis. Prefer a short written null hypothesis for Pin Risk: what would falsify the current reading in the next window?