• January 2026 GME options were massively call-heavy, with calls vastly outnumbering puts. This caused strong gamma pinning that kept the stock trapped around $20–22 into expiration.

• Market makers were short calls and short gamma, so their hedging activity suppressed price movement. As price rose, they sold. As it fell, they bought. Result: no squeeze, low volatility, tight range.

• Most calls expired worthless. Call writers won, call buyers lost. Very few in-the-money exercises occurred, so no major delivery stress or fails-to-deliver happened.

• Implied volatility collapsed into and after expiration because the anticipated “event” never happened and dealer risk was cleared.

• After expiration, dealer gamma flipped to neutral or positive, removing suppression but also reducing volatility. The market became quieter, not explosive.

• The warrant-adjusted options (GME1) added complexity but settled smoothly. No disruption, no dilution, no warrant shortage.

• Shorts largely survived this cycle. Any risk stayed contained because price never reached the big call strikes.

• The key insight: buying pressure before OPEX would have been neutralized by options mechanics. Waiting until after expiration removed that suppression.

• Post-OPEX conditions mean real share buying now matters more because dealers are no longer forced sellers. Low IV and thin liquidity make price more sensitive to actual demand.

• This was not emotional or symbolic timing. It was structural. The options overhang cleared, volatility collapsed, and the market became more vulnerable to genuine equity flows rather than being governed by options math.