Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:17 AM ET

AVGG max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.1
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$18-0.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.63±42.1% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.15133 puts / 882 calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3084.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 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$23+27.1%26d
Fri, Dec 18$20+10.5%54d
Fri, Mar 19$18-0.6%145d
Thu, Jun 17$17-6.1%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot18131823293439$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 — 18 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot18131823283339247247
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AVGG open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot181318232833391515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot131823293439102%80%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1318232834+$3K−$3K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.79-0.01130.02960.03-0.01-0.20
0.75-0.01140.03250.03-0.01-0.23
0.71-0.01150.03500.04-0.01-0.27
0.67-0.01160.03700.04-0.01-0.31
0.63-0.01170.03850.04-0.01-0.35
0.58-0.01180.03950.04-0.01-0.39
0.55-0.01190.04000.04-0.01-0.43
0.51-0.01200.04010.04-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.01210.03990.04-0.01-0.49
0.44-0.01220.03940.04-0.01-0.53
0.41-0.01230.03860.04-0.01-0.56
0.38-0.01240.03770.04-0.01-0.58
0.36-0.01250.03660.04-0.01-0.61

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1119253137504100
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

spot111825323965410410
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: AVGG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk