Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:58 AM ET

AMSC max pain

Spot (delayed)$25.05
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$25-0.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.9±59.5% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.31592 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3085.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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$29+15.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$25-0.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$30+19.8%81d
Fri, Apr 16$30+19.8%172d
Fri, Jan 21$25-0.2%452d
Fri, Jan 19$30+19.8%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25132946627995$9M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot25132540557085340340
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AMSC open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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, Jan 21

spot251325405570851010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot13294662799589%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 30132540557085+$4K−$4K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.00130.00830.05-0.00-0.10
0.86-0.00150.01030.06-0.01-0.14
0.77-0.01200.01470.08-0.01-0.23
0.68-0.01250.01770.10-0.01-0.33
0.59-0.01300.01940.11-0.01-0.42
0.52-0.01350.01990.11-0.01-0.51
0.45-0.01400.01980.11-0.01-0.58
0.40-0.01450.01920.11-0.01-0.65
0.35-0.01500.01830.10-0.01-0.71
0.30-0.01550.01730.10-0.01-0.77
0.27-0.01600.01630.09-0.01-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot322303846702K0
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

spot319283746752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 5K 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: AMSC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk