Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:37 AM ET

AIQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$62.29
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$55-11.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.55±13.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.99787 puts / 796 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3033.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $40

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$61-2.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$64+2.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$55-11.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$55-11.7%116d
Fri, May 21$40-35.8%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55354759718395$3M$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot55355661667285379379
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AIQ open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot553556616672851010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot35475971839558%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 40355661667285+$26K−$26K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.77-0.01550.02380.11-0.02-0.22
0.75-0.02560.02570.11-0.02-0.25
0.72-0.02570.02770.12-0.02-0.27
0.69-0.02580.02960.12-0.02-0.30
0.66-0.02590.03130.13-0.02-0.34
0.63-0.02600.03300.13-0.02-0.37
0.60-0.02610.03440.14-0.02-0.40
0.56-0.02620.03550.14-0.02-0.44
0.53-0.02630.03630.14-0.02-0.48
0.49-0.02640.03680.14-0.02-0.51
0.45-0.02650.03690.14-0.02-0.55
0.42-0.02660.03660.14-0.02-0.59
0.38-0.02670.03600.14-0.02-0.63
0.35-0.02680.03500.13-0.02-0.66
0.32-0.02690.03380.13-0.02-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3045525966858010
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

spot3046546270852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 7K 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: AIQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk