Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 21, 11:59 PM ET

AMC max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.88
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$2.5-13.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.9±31.3% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.28314 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$3largest call OI
Put wall$2largest put OI
IV3083.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 25$2.5-13.2%4d
Fri, Oct 2$2.5-13.2%11d
Fri, Oct 9$2.5-13.2%18d
Fri, Oct 16$2.5-13.2%25d
Fri, Oct 23$2.5-13.2%32d
Fri, Oct 30$2-30.5%39d
Fri, Nov 20$2.5-13.2%60d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5-13.2%88d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5223445$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot2.51.52.53.55415415
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AMC open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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 20

spot2.51.52.53.552K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot223445133%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 95.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 21.52.53.55+$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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.970.001.50.06480.00-0.00-0.03
0.89-0.0020.18560.00-0.00-0.12
0.72-0.002.50.32340.00-0.00-0.28
0.54-0.0030.36520.01-0.00-0.46
0.39-0.003.50.33490.01-0.00-0.61
0.29-0.0040.28320.00-0.00-0.72
0.16-0.0050.18970.00-0.00-0.85

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

spot0.51.52.53.54.55.535K0
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

spot0.523.557110K110K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 637K call contracts, 169K 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: AMC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk