Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:03 AM ET

APPX max pain

Spot (delayed)$8.45
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$10+18.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.3±74.6% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.9732 puts / 33 calls
Call wall$13largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV30157.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4per 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$10+18.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$14+65.7%54d
Fri, Mar 19$10+18.3%145d
Thu, Jun 17$10+18.3%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10158121519$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot10181013172020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APPX open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot10181013172121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot158121519249%117%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 126.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 559111519+$47−$47
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0010.00320.00-0.00-0.02
0.84-0.0050.02510.02-0.00-0.15
0.71-0.0180.03670.02-0.01-0.27
0.68-0.0190.03890.02-0.01-0.31
0.64-0.01100.04030.03-0.01-0.34
0.61-0.01110.04140.03-0.01-0.38
0.55-0.01130.04230.03-0.01-0.44
0.50-0.01150.04240.03-0.01-0.49
0.46-0.01170.04190.03-0.01-0.53
0.43-0.01190.04110.03-0.01-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot112223242531K0
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

spot112233445562K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K 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: APPX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk