Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 11:38 PM ET

ALNY max pain

Spot (delayed)$230
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$320+39.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$92.25±40.1% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI7.007 puts / 1 calls
Call wall$270largest call OI
Put wall$320largest put OI
IV3062.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $270

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$230+0.0%24d
Fri, Dec 18$240+4.3%52d
Fri, Jan 15$280+21.7%80d
Fri, Mar 19$250+8.7%143d
Thu, Jun 17$210-8.7%233d
Fri, Sep 17$320+39.1%325d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320210232254276298320$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 — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot32021027032066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ALNY open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 17

spot32021027032011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spotflip 270210270320+$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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.69-0.052100.00300.76-0.06-0.32
0.50-0.062700.00350.86-0.07-0.53
0.36-0.063200.00340.81-0.06-0.69

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

spot1201802603604606204K0
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

spot1101602203204205404K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 24K call contracts, 16K 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: ALNY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk