Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:32 AM ET

AXP max pain

Spot (delayed)$313.23
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$320+2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$37.23±11.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.473K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$350largest call OI
Put wall$300largest put OI
IV3025.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$702Kper 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, Oct 30$312.5-0.2%7d
Fri, Nov 6$310-1.0%14d
Fri, Nov 13$315+0.6%21d
Fri, Nov 20$320+2.2%28d
Fri, Nov 27$315+0.6%35d
Fri, Dec 4$310-1.0%42d
Fri, Dec 18$320+2.2%56d
Fri, Jan 15$320+2.2%84d
Fri, Feb 19$320+2.2%119d
Fri, Mar 19$310-1.0%147d
Fri, Apr 16$280-10.6%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320150224298372446520$42M$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 — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot3201501852403103804501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AXP open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot320150185240310380450147147
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15022429837244652066%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot165200270340410480+$757K−$757K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.022400.00180.18-0.02-0.05
0.93-0.032500.00250.24-0.03-0.07
0.90-0.042600.00340.32-0.04-0.10
0.86-0.052700.00440.41-0.05-0.14
0.81-0.062800.00550.49-0.06-0.20
0.74-0.072900.00660.58-0.07-0.26
0.67-0.073000.00760.65-0.07-0.34
0.59-0.083100.00830.69-0.08-0.42
0.51-0.083200.00860.71-0.08-0.51
0.42-0.073300.00860.70-0.08-0.60
0.34-0.073400.00810.66-0.08-0.68
0.27-0.063500.00740.60-0.07-0.76
0.21-0.053600.00640.52-0.07-0.83
0.16-0.043700.00540.44-0.06-0.90
0.12-0.043800.00440.36-0.06-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 42 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot280307.5325342.53654005790
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

spot15022030034041049050K50K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 162K call contracts, 81K 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: AXP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk