Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:10 AM ET

AUR max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.84
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$7+44.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.08±22.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.8411K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$11largest call OI
Put wall$6largest put OI
IV3075.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2

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, Oct 30$2-58.7%4d
Fri, Nov 6$5+3.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$1.5-69.0%18d
Fri, Nov 20$6+24.0%25d
Fri, Nov 27$1.5-69.0%32d
Fri, Dec 4$1-79.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$7+44.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$5+3.3%81d
Fri, Feb 19$6+24.0%116d
Fri, Mar 19$6+24.0%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7147111417$11M$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot71471013163K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AUR open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot7147101316160160
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot147111417222%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2258111417+$12K−$12K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.0010.00920.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.0020.02920.00-0.00-0.04
0.91-0.0030.07890.00-0.00-0.09
0.78-0.0040.19520.01-0.00-0.22
0.51-0.0150.30150.01-0.01-0.49
0.28-0.0060.24100.01-0.00-0.73
0.15-0.0070.15750.01-0.00-0.85
0.09-0.0080.10210.00-0.00-0.92
0.06-0.0090.06800.00-0.00-0.96
0.04-0.00100.04670.00-0.00-0.98
0.03-0.00110.03300.00-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.00120.02380.000.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 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

spot12.545.578.53K0
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

spot0.535.5810.514135K135K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 475K call contracts, 67K 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: AUR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk