Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:54 AM ET

AOSL max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.88
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$30+37.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.05±41.4% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.60412 puts / 685 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3087.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 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$25+14.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$27.5+25.7%54d
Fri, Mar 19$30+37.1%145d
Thu, Jun 17$30+37.1%235d
Fri, Jan 21$15-31.4%453d
Fri, Jan 19$12.5-42.9%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30132028354350$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3012.52027.53542.550321321
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AOSL 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

spot3012.52027.53542.5501717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot13202835435099%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 81.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 3012.52027.53542.550+$5K−$5K
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
0.91-0.0112.50.01360.02-0.01-0.09
0.85-0.01150.02080.03-0.01-0.15
0.77-0.0117.50.02760.04-0.01-0.23
0.68-0.01200.03270.05-0.01-0.32
0.59-0.0122.50.03560.05-0.01-0.41
0.51-0.01250.03650.06-0.01-0.50
0.44-0.0127.50.03590.06-0.01-0.57
0.37-0.01300.03420.05-0.01-0.64
0.32-0.0132.50.03190.05-0.01-0.70
0.27-0.01350.02940.05-0.01-0.75
0.23-0.0137.50.02680.04-0.01-0.79
0.20-0.01400.02430.04-0.01-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.522.532.542.552.5659800
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

spot12.522.532.542.552.5652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 6K 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: AOSL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk