Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:22 AM ET

ACMR max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.61
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$60+18.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.15±26.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI2.11160 puts / 76 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3091.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 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, Oct 30$60+18.6%6d
Fri, Nov 6$70+38.3%13d
Fri, Nov 13$70+38.3%20d
Fri, Nov 20$65+28.4%27d
Fri, Nov 27$70+38.3%34d
Fri, Dec 18$60+18.6%55d
Fri, Jan 15$60+18.6%83d
Fri, Feb 19$60+18.6%118d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot603548617487100$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6035455565804343
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ACMR 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

spot6035455565801010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3548617487100126%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 83.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3545556580+$1K−$1K
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
0.89-0.03350.01040.04-0.03-0.11
0.85-0.0437.50.01300.05-0.04-0.15
0.81-0.04400.01560.05-0.04-0.19
0.76-0.0542.50.01800.06-0.05-0.24
0.71-0.05450.02020.07-0.05-0.30
0.65-0.0647.50.02190.07-0.06-0.35
0.59-0.06500.02310.08-0.06-0.41
0.53-0.0652.50.02380.08-0.06-0.47
0.48-0.06550.02390.08-0.06-0.53
0.42-0.0657.50.02350.08-0.06-0.58
0.37-0.06600.02280.07-0.06-0.64
0.33-0.0562.50.02170.07-0.05-0.68
0.28-0.05650.02040.07-0.05-0.72
0.25-0.0567.50.01900.06-0.05-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4455647382912010
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

spot7.53554751051554K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 17K 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: ACMR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk