Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 12:54 AM ET

APPN max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.5
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$25-48.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.55±30.0% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.1033 puts / 322 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3077.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$30-38.1%29d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5-12.4%57d
Fri, Jan 15$30-38.1%85d
Fri, Feb 19$25-48.5%120d
Fri, May 21$20-58.8%211d
Fri, Jan 21$25-48.5%456d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25132232415160$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2512.522.53037.54555123123
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APPN open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot2512.522.53037.5455522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot132232415160134%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 2512.522.53037.54555+$6K−$6K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01300.00770.05-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.0132.50.00960.06-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.02350.01160.07-0.02-0.16
0.80-0.0237.50.01370.08-0.02-0.19
0.76-0.02400.01580.09-0.02-0.24
0.71-0.0242.50.01760.10-0.03-0.29
0.66-0.03450.01910.10-0.03-0.34
0.60-0.0347.50.02020.11-0.03-0.39
0.55-0.03500.02080.11-0.03-0.44
0.46-0.03550.02090.11-0.03-0.54
0.37-0.03600.01980.11-0.03-0.63

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot10203040502310
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

spot1020304050685685
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 2K 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: APPN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk