Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET

ARQQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.07
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe delayed quote, underlying price
Fieldcurrent_price
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
HowAbout 15 minutes delayed.
Open the source document →
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18Not shownone strike decides it
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.68
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceAt-the-money straddle midpoint
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
HowCall midpoint plus put midpoint at the strike nearest spot for the 2026-12-18 expiration = 4.68 USD, 29.1% of 16.07 spot.
Open the source document →
±29.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.45
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
How1,984 put contracts / 1,364 call contracts = 1.45 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
2K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$30
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
How30.00 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest call OI
Put wall$5
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceStrike with the most put open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
How5.00 for the 2026-12-18 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
Open the source document →
largest put OI
IV30108.9%
⊙
EVIDENCE — filed/published fact
SourceCboe 30-day implied volatility for the underlying
Fieldiv30
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
HowAs Cboe publishes it; not computed by us.
Open the source document →
30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$3K
⊙
INFERENCE — derived by arithmetic
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 8, 6:50 PM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2026-12-18 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.
Open the source document →
per 1% move

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 46.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Event risk before this expiration: 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 20one strike decides12d
Fri, Dec 18one strike decides40d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5+8.9%68d
Fri, Mar 19one strike decides131d
Thu, Jun 17one strike decides221d
Fri, Jan 21$10-37.8%439d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

Max pain is not shown: without its single heaviest strike it moves 46.7% of spot, more than the 5% we allow, so one strike decides it. Walls and gamma still print.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot512.5203045482482
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ARQQ open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot12.51517.520409898
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot51321293745328%108%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 111.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot512.5203045+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0150.00710.00-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.017.50.01500.01-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.02100.02940.01-0.02-0.11
0.79-0.0212.50.05080.01-0.02-0.21
0.62-0.03150.06540.02-0.03-0.37
0.47-0.0317.50.06380.02-0.03-0.52
0.35-0.03200.05560.02-0.03-0.63
0.27-0.0322.50.04700.02-0.03-0.71
0.22-0.03250.03950.02-0.03-0.76
0.14-0.02300.02820.01-0.02-0.83
0.10-0.02350.02070.01-0.02-0.88
0.07-0.01400.01550.01-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.515254565851K0
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

spot2.512.522.54060801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 5K 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: ARQQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk