Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:13 AM ET

AXSM max pain

Spot (delayed)$145.4
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$160+10.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$36.7±25.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.28154 puts / 548 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$43Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$175+20.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$200+37.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$170+16.9%82d
Fri, Mar 19$160+10.0%145d
Fri, May 21$150+3.2%208d
Thu, Jun 17$160+10.0%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot160105160215270325380$9M$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, Mar 19

spot1601051401752102703408888
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AXSM 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

spot1601051401752102703401515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot10516021527032538076%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 110105140175210270340+$16K−$16K
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
0.89-0.031050.00400.18-0.03-0.12
0.86-0.041100.00470.21-0.04-0.14
0.83-0.041150.00540.24-0.04-0.18
0.80-0.051200.00610.27-0.05-0.21
0.72-0.051300.00730.31-0.06-0.29
0.68-0.061350.00780.33-0.06-0.33
0.64-0.061400.00820.35-0.06-0.38
0.56-0.061500.00870.37-0.07-0.46
0.51-0.061550.00880.37-0.07-0.51
0.47-0.061600.00880.37-0.07-0.55
0.43-0.061650.00870.36-0.07-0.59
0.40-0.061700.00850.36-0.07-0.63
0.36-0.061750.00820.35-0.06-0.67
0.33-0.061800.00790.34-0.06-0.70
0.30-0.051850.00760.32-0.06-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 35 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.5901251702303202K0
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

spot47.5901251702303205K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 12K 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: AXSM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk