Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 11, 10:29 PM ET

APH max pain

Spot (delayed)$87.24
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$80-8.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.8±23.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.24520 puts / 418 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$80largest put OI
IV3041.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $90

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Oct 16$80-8.3%4d
Fri, Nov 20$80-8.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$72.5-16.9%67d
Fri, Jan 15$67.5-22.6%95d
Fri, Mar 19$77.5-11.2%158d
Fri, Apr 16$80-8.3%186d
Thu, Jun 17$80-8.3%248d
Fri, Sep 17$82.5-5.4%340d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8043597692109125$2M$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 — 80 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot8042.562.57587.5100166166
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APH open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot8042.562.57587.510022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot4359769210912552%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 9042.562.57587.5100+$16K−$16K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.02700.00950.17-0.02-0.18
0.79-0.0272.50.01050.18-0.02-0.21
0.76-0.02750.01150.20-0.02-0.24
0.72-0.0277.50.01230.21-0.02-0.28
0.69-0.02800.01310.22-0.03-0.32
0.65-0.0382.50.01370.23-0.03-0.35
0.62-0.03850.01430.24-0.03-0.39
0.58-0.0387.50.01460.24-0.03-0.43
0.54-0.03900.01490.25-0.03-0.47
0.51-0.0392.50.01500.25-0.03-0.50
0.47-0.03950.01500.25-0.03-0.54
0.44-0.0397.50.01490.25-0.03-0.57
0.41-0.031000.01470.24-0.03-0.61
0.34-0.031050.01400.23-0.03-0.68
0.29-0.021100.01300.21-0.03-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot32.547.562.577.592.511519K0
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

spot17.53552.57087.511054K54K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 140K call contracts, 192K 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: APH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk