Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 4:39 PM ET

AEIS max pain

Spot (delayed)$224.22
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$260+16.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$115.45±51.5% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI1.31217 puts / 166 calls
Call wall$500largest call OI
Put wall$260largest put OI
IV3075.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

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$270+20.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$250+11.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$380+69.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$250+11.5%172d
Thu, Jun 17$260+16.0%234d
Fri, Dec 17$260+16.0%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot260125200275350425500$2M$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 — 260 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot2601251602202903604906666
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AEIS open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot26012516022029036049022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot12520027535042550067%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 130125160220290360490+$6K−$6K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.031500.00150.58-0.04-0.16
0.82-0.041600.00170.63-0.05-0.19
0.79-0.041700.00180.68-0.05-0.21
0.77-0.041800.00200.72-0.05-0.23
0.73-0.051950.00210.78-0.06-0.27
0.72-0.052000.00220.80-0.06-0.29
0.69-0.052100.00230.83-0.06-0.31
0.67-0.062200.00240.86-0.06-0.34
0.65-0.062300.00250.89-0.06-0.37
0.62-0.062400.00250.91-0.06-0.39
0.60-0.062500.00260.92-0.07-0.42
0.57-0.062600.00260.94-0.07-0.45
0.53-0.062800.00270.95-0.07-0.49
0.51-0.062900.00270.95-0.07-0.52
0.48-0.063000.00270.95-0.06-0.54

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot901401952903904903800
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

spot901401902803804801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 6K 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: AEIS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk