Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET

ARBE max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.44
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
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Max pain · Fri, May 21Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.35
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2027-05-21 expiration = 0.35 USD, 79.6% of 0.44 spot.
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±79.6% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.11
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
How88 put contracts / 805 call contracts = 0.11 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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88 puts / 805 calls
Call wall$0.5
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
How0.50 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest call OI
Put wall$1
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
How1.00 for the 2027-05-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
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largest put OI
IV30152.7%
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EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
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30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$108
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INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2027-05-21 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
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per 1% move

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 113.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 · FOMC decision Wed, Dec 9 · CPI release Thu, Dec 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$1+127.3%16d
Fri, Dec 18too thin44d
Fri, Feb 19$0.5+13.7%107d
Fri, May 21one strike decides198d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 113.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot0.511.5234364364
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ARBE open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

Open-interest change: building vs unwinding

Needs two observed snapshot days for this expiration; the comparison appears automatically once the next weekday snapshot lands. We diff real observations only; nothing is estimated.

Volume by strike · Fri, May 21

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot112334200%128%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 130.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spot0.511.5234+$53−$53
Net dealer gamma per strike, in dollars per 1% move, assuming the standard convention (dealers long calls, short puts) — an assumption, not an observation. Above the amber flip level hedging tends to dampen moves; below it, to amplify them.

Greeks by strike · Fri, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.700.000.50.83780.000.00-0.35
0.460.0010.86310.000.00-0.60
0.350.001.50.75360.000.00-0.73
0.280.0020.66100.000.00-0.81
0.210.0030.53120.00not quoted-0.91
0.170.0040.44610.000.00-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot0.511.523432K0
Call open interest per strike, stacked across the checked expirations — each color is one expiry. Strikes are pruned to the liquid center of each chain.

All expirations combined — total open interest

spot0.511.523432K32K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 68K call contracts, 4K put contracts open.

Reading this honestly

Max pain is arithmetic, not prophecy: the settle price that would minimize what option writers pay out at expiration, computed from open interest alone. Prices sometimes gravitate toward heavy strikes into expiry — dealer hedging is a real flow — but the evidence that max pain predicts settlement better than chance is mixed, and we are not going to pretend otherwise. Use it as a map of where positioning is stacked, next to the fundamentals and the earnings calendar, not as a target.

Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.

Data: Cboe delayed public feed (~15 minutes), refreshed here about every 15 minutes. Open interest itself updates once daily, before the open. Educational information, not investment advice.

Keep going: ARBE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk