Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 31, 12:33 PM ET

ACET max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.42
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$10+192.4% vs spot
Put/Call OI0.0831 puts / 370 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3082.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$304per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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$7.5+119.3%20d
Fri, Jan 15$7.5+119.3%76d
Fri, Apr 16$10+192.4%167d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10369121518$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot102.57.512.517.5351351
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ACET 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

spot102.57.512.517.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot369121518337%96%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 245.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 7.52.57.512.517.5+$324−$324
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
0.84-0.002.50.07590.01-0.00-0.20
0.60-0.0050.11530.01-0.00-0.44
0.49-0.017.50.10610.01-0.01-0.56
0.43-0.01100.09630.01-0.01-0.62
0.40-0.0112.50.08890.01-0.01-0.67
0.37-0.01150.08330.01-0.01-0.70
0.35-0.0117.50.07880.01-0.01-0.72

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

spot2.57.512.517.54230
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

spot2.57.512.517.5423423
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 700 call contracts, 144 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: ACET workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk