Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 10:01 AM ET

ASND max pain

Spot (delayed)$245.25
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$220-10.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$83±33.8% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.30199 puts / 674 calls
Call wall$350largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3041.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$90Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $170

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$230-6.2%24d
Fri, Dec 18$240-2.1%52d
Fri, Jan 15$250+1.9%80d
Fri, Mar 19$230-6.2%143d
Fri, Apr 16$260+6.0%171d
Fri, Dec 17$220-10.3%416d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot220105164223282341400$5M$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 — 220 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot220105175210270330390117117
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ASND open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 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 · Fri, Dec 17

spot22010517521027033039011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot10516422328234140056%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 170105180220280340400+$22K−$22K
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, Dec 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.021900.00240.68-0.03-0.18
0.81-0.021950.00250.71-0.04-0.20
0.80-0.032000.00270.75-0.04-0.22
0.76-0.032100.00290.81-0.04-0.25
0.73-0.032200.00320.87-0.04-0.29
0.69-0.042300.00340.93-0.04-0.33
0.66-0.042400.00350.97-0.05-0.37
0.62-0.042500.00361.00-0.05-0.41
0.59-0.042600.00381.02-0.05-0.45
0.55-0.042700.00381.04-0.05-0.49
0.52-0.042800.00381.05-0.05-0.53
0.48-0.042900.00391.05-0.05-0.57
0.45-0.043000.00381.04-0.05-0.61
0.42-0.043100.00381.03-0.05-0.65
0.39-0.043200.00371.01-0.05-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1151551852302903501K0
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

spot1001401802403204001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 3K 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: ASND workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk