Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:36 AM ET

AM max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.85
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$21+0.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.8±13.4% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.1169 puts / 649 calls
Call wall$23largest call OI
Put wall$21largest put OI
IV3026.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$23Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$21+0.7%27d
Fri, Dec 18$21+0.7%55d
Fri, Jan 15$20-4.1%83d
Fri, Mar 19$21+0.7%146d
Thu, Jun 17$20-4.1%236d
Fri, Jan 21$15-28.1%454d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot21151821242730$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 — 21 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot211519222530227227
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AM open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot21151922253011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot15182124273039%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 20151721232528+$10K−$10K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.00150.03090.02-0.00-0.08
0.91-0.00160.03810.02-0.00-0.11
0.87-0.00170.05320.03-0.00-0.15
0.73-0.00190.09580.04-0.00-0.28
0.63-0.00200.11510.05-0.00-0.39
0.51-0.01210.12290.05-0.01-0.51
0.39-0.00220.11700.05-0.00-0.62
0.30-0.00230.10250.04-0.00-0.72
0.23-0.00240.08560.04-0.00-0.79
0.17-0.00250.06970.03-0.00-0.84
0.10-0.00270.04510.02-0.00-0.92
0.08-0.00280.03620.02-0.00-0.95
0.05-0.00300.02360.01-0.00-0.99

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

spot10151821242711K0
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

spot31419242914K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 32K call contracts, 14K 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: AM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk