Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 2:09 AM ET

AROC max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.97
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$30+0.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.58±18.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.1398 puts / 755 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3043.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$16Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$35+16.8%24d
Fri, Dec 18$30+0.1%52d
Fri, Feb 19$30+0.1%115d
Fri, May 21$20-33.3%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30202632384450$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot3020253545296296
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AROC open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot302025354522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot20263238445057%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 2520253545+$6K−$6K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.01200.01840.01-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0122.50.03810.03-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.01250.04490.04-0.01-0.21
0.52-0.01300.06160.07-0.01-0.48
0.27-0.01350.04830.05-0.01-0.72
0.14-0.01400.02960.04-0.01-0.85
0.08-0.01450.01780.02-0.00-0.91
0.05-0.00500.01120.02-0.00-0.94

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

spot20253545553K0
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

spot1520253545553K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 1K 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: AROC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk