Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:07 AM ET

APPF max pain

Spot (delayed)$211.6
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$210-0.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$56.7±26.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.0819 puts / 224 calls
Call wall$300largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3049.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$42Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $135

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$220+4.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$180-14.9%54d
Fri, Jan 15$185-12.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$210-0.8%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot210120160200240280320$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2101201852202502903206060
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APPF 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

spot2101201852202502903204040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12016020024028032052%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 135120185220250290320+$11K−$11K
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
0.96-0.011200.00110.13-0.02-0.04
0.93-0.031350.00180.20-0.03-0.07
0.88-0.041500.00260.29-0.04-0.12
0.73-0.071850.00450.48-0.07-0.27
0.71-0.071900.00480.50-0.07-0.30
0.60-0.082100.00540.56-0.08-0.41
0.55-0.082200.00550.58-0.08-0.47
0.49-0.082300.00560.58-0.08-0.52
0.44-0.082400.00550.58-0.08-0.58
0.40-0.082500.00540.56-0.08-0.63
0.31-0.072700.00500.52-0.08-0.72
0.27-0.072800.00470.49-0.07-0.76
0.24-0.062900.00440.46-0.07-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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

spot751301601902403001K0
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

spot751101451802303001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 446 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: APPF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk