Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 2:03 AM ET

AWI max pain

Spot (delayed)$164.2
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$160-2.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.5±9.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.24141 puts / 596 calls
Call wall$195largest call OI
Put wall$145largest put OI
IV3035.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$123Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $195

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$170+3.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$160-2.6%52d
Fri, Mar 19$160-2.6%143d
Thu, Jun 17$145-11.7%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot16090124158192226260$4M$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 — 160 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot16090115145170195240506506
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AWI 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

spot1609011514517019524022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot90124158192226260122%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 19590115150175200250+$130K−$130K
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
0.91-0.041300.00510.10-0.05-0.09
0.89-0.051350.00640.12-0.05-0.11
0.86-0.051400.00800.14-0.06-0.14
0.82-0.061450.01020.16-0.06-0.17
0.78-0.061500.01280.19-0.07-0.22
0.71-0.071550.01580.21-0.07-0.29
0.63-0.071600.01890.24-0.07-0.37
0.53-0.071650.02090.25-0.07-0.47
0.43-0.071700.02080.25-0.07-0.58
0.34-0.071750.01890.23-0.07-0.67
0.27-0.061800.01620.21-0.06-0.74
0.21-0.061850.01360.18-0.06-0.80
0.17-0.051900.01130.16-0.05-0.84
0.14-0.051950.00950.14-0.05-0.87
0.12-0.052000.00800.13-0.04-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot901301601852205330
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

spot85115145175210270533533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 885 call contracts, 315 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: AWI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk