Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 16, 10:03 AM ET

AEM max pain

Spot (delayed)$189.3
Max pain · Fri, Nov 27$175-7.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.2±11.7% by Fri, Nov 27
Put/Call OI0.5332 puts / 60 calls
Call wall$205largest call OI
Put wall$175largest put OI
IV3042.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $165

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 16$180-4.9%today
Fri, Oct 23$185-2.3%7d
Fri, Oct 30$187.5-1.0%14d
Fri, Nov 6$185-2.3%21d
Fri, Nov 13$185-2.3%28d
Fri, Nov 20$185-2.3%35d
Fri, Nov 27$175-7.6%42d
Fri, Dec 18$185-2.3%63d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot175155167179191203215$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 — 175 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot1751551651751851952052525
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AEM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 27.

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, Nov 27

spot1751551651751851952052323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spot15516717919120321549%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 27

spotflip 165155165175185195205+$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, Nov 27

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.041550.00560.10-0.05-0.09
0.88-0.051600.00720.13-0.07-0.12
0.83-0.071650.00890.16-0.08-0.17
0.78-0.081700.01060.19-0.09-0.22
0.72-0.101750.01220.22-0.11-0.28
0.65-0.111800.01350.24-0.12-0.35
0.58-0.121850.01430.25-0.12-0.42
0.51-0.121900.01460.26-0.12-0.49
0.44-0.121950.01440.25-0.12-0.57
0.37-0.122000.01370.24-0.11-0.63
0.31-0.112050.01280.23-0.10-0.70
0.21-0.092150.01030.19-0.08-0.80

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

spot80145180207.52453202K0
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

spot40105155187.522028011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 92K call contracts, 63K 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: AEM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk