Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 11:55 PM ET

AGYS max pain

Spot (delayed)$115
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$115+0.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.8±19.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 9 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
IV3070.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 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$100-13.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$115+0.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$85-26.1%81d
Fri, Apr 16$80-30.4%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot115115124133142151160$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot11511514014515016033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AGYS 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

spot11511514014515016011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot11512413314215116064%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot115140145150160+$425−$425
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
0.66-0.101150.01250.17-0.10-0.34
0.33-0.091400.01290.17-0.09-0.67
0.28-0.091450.01190.16-0.09-0.72
0.23-0.081500.01070.14-0.08-0.77
0.16-0.071600.00840.12-0.06-0.84

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

spot356085115140165540
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

spot356085110135160110110
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 435 call contracts, 79 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: AGYS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk