Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:03 AM ET

ARCB max pain

Spot (delayed)$127.01
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$130+2.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.15±12.7% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI1.2134 puts / 28 calls
Call wall$130largest call OI
Put wall$100largest put OI
IV3056.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $145

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$130+2.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$135+6.3%53d
Fri, Mar 19$125-1.6%144d
Thu, Jun 17$90-29.1%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot130100112124136148160$1M$0
■ put-side pain■ call-side painTotal payout option writers would owe at each settle price (both sides, all open interest, ×100 shares) — low settles hurt put writers, high settles hurt call writers. The minimum — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot1301001151251351451601111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ARCB open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot13010011512513514516022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot10011212413614816076%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 145100115125135145160+$2K−$2K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.071000.00660.06-0.07-0.09
0.87-0.091050.00900.07-0.09-0.13
0.75-0.121150.01480.11-0.12-0.25
0.67-0.131200.01760.13-0.13-0.33
0.57-0.141250.01940.14-0.14-0.43
0.47-0.141300.02000.14-0.14-0.53
0.38-0.141350.01920.13-0.14-0.62
0.30-0.121400.01730.12-0.12-0.70
0.23-0.111450.01490.11-0.11-0.77
0.17-0.091500.01250.09-0.09-0.83
0.10-0.071600.00830.06-0.07-0.90

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

spot751201451701952404150
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

spot5585115145175210415415
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 713 call contracts, 280 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.

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