CHTR max pain for the Oct 9, 2026 expiry is $120, from the Fri Oct 2 options chain. The last price, $107.77, is 10.2% below it. Call wall $120 · put floor $105.
What the institutional money is doing on CHTR right now — dark pool, options positioning, and where the news and the money disagree. Free.
The stock is trading near its put-floor support level ($105), yet standing option positions show far more defensive puts than calls—a mismatch suggesting holders are hedged but recent traders favored calls, a sign of tentative buying into weakness.
The defensive put-heavy standing position aligns with this cautious pivot—holders are protecting downside—but the recent session's call-over-put flow suggests some traders are betting the debt move is already priced in.
No new option positioning data is available to assess whether this comparison is shifting trader sentiment; the standing defensive lean persists unchanged.
This structural threat aligns with the defensive put positioning—holders are protecting against long-term margin pressure—yet the recent call-leaning flow suggests some see the risk as already reflected in the $107 price.
This operational bright spot does not yet show in new option positioning; the standing defensive lean and recent call-over-put flow suggest traders are waiting for proof of commercial traction before rotating bullish.
A divergence is when the news narrative and the institutional money flow point in opposite directions — a bearish headline while large call premium is bought, or heavy dark-pool selling under a bullish story. It signals the crowd and the desks may disagree.
Dark-pool volume — The share of trading executed off-exchange, at wholesalers and dark pools. About half of all US share volume prints there on an ordinary day, so the level by itself says almost nothing. What carries information is the distance from this name’s own recent norm, and whether the off-exchange size ran above its usual.
Off-exchange short share — How much of that off-exchange volume was sold short. The median across all listed names is about 49%, because wholesalers filling retail buy orders sell short and cover later. A reading near half is plumbing, not a bearish vote — compare it to the same name’s own 20-day norm.
Max pain — The price where the most options expire worthless — positioning often gravitates toward it near expiry.
Call wall / Put floor — Strikes with the heaviest call/put open interest — they often act as short-term resistance and support.
Put/Call ratio — Below ~0.7 leans bullish (more calls); above ~1 leans defensive (more puts).
