Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 11:41 PM ET

ARKB max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.92
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$28+4.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.23±26.8% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 12 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
IV3041.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$346per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · 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$26-3.4%28d
Fri, Dec 18$24-10.8%56d
Fri, Jan 15$21-22.0%84d
Fri, Mar 19$22-18.3%147d
Thu, Jun 17$28+4.0%237d
Fri, Jan 21$15-44.3%455d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28283032343638$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot2828293032353855
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ARKB open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot2828293032353811
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot28303234363841%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot282930323538+$142−$142
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.56-0.01280.04490.09-0.01-0.46
0.52-0.01290.04560.09-0.01-0.51
0.48-0.01300.04560.09-0.01-0.55
0.40-0.01320.04410.09-0.01-0.64
0.30-0.01350.03930.08-0.01-0.75
0.23-0.01380.03340.07-0.01-0.84

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

spot1119263340471K0
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

spot1017243138451K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 3K 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: ARKB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk