Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:08 AM ET

AAPB max pain

Spot (delayed)$47
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$32-31.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.55±26.7% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI30.421K puts / 33 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3053.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10Kper 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$40-14.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$45-4.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$37-21.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$32-31.9%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32253239465360$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 — 32 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3225303547551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AAPB open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot32253035475533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot25323946536072%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2530354755+$11K−$11K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.01250.00530.04-0.01-0.05
0.91-0.01280.00730.05-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01300.00890.06-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01320.01060.07-0.01-0.12
0.82-0.01350.01350.08-0.01-0.17
0.73-0.01400.01860.10-0.02-0.26
0.57-0.02470.02410.13-0.02-0.42
0.50-0.02500.02510.13-0.02-0.50
0.38-0.02550.02470.12-0.02-0.62
0.28-0.01600.02220.11-0.01-0.72

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

spot33384348552010
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

spot2030364248541K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 459 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: AAPB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk