Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:05 AM ET

AVBP max pain

Spot (delayed)$21
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$17.5-16.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.1±48.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI3.45131 puts / 38 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV30100.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$905per 1% move

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$20-4.8%25d
Fri, Jan 15$15-28.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$17.5-16.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5131926323945$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot17.512.517.522.535458484
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AVBP 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

spot17.512.517.522.5354522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot131926323945115%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12.517.522.53545+$837−$837
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
0.84-0.0112.50.01450.03-0.01-0.14
0.78-0.01150.01910.04-0.01-0.20
0.71-0.0117.50.02320.05-0.01-0.27
0.64-0.01200.02620.05-0.01-0.34
0.58-0.0122.50.02790.06-0.01-0.40
0.41-0.01300.02700.06-0.01-0.57
0.34-0.01350.02460.05-0.01-0.64
0.29-0.01400.02220.05-0.01-0.69
0.25-0.01450.02000.05-0.01-0.74

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

spot15202535453K0
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

spot2.51017.525403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 1K 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: AVBP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk