Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 9, 10:04 AM ET

AZN max pain

Spot (delayed)$159.64
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$170+6.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.4±15.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI2.09121 puts / 58 calls
Call wall$160largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3032.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$19Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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 16$165+3.4%7d
Fri, Nov 20$165+3.4%42d
Fri, Dec 18$160+0.2%70d
Fri, Jan 15$170+6.5%98d
Fri, Feb 19$170+6.5%133d
Fri, Mar 19$160+0.2%161d
Fri, Apr 16$165+3.4%189d
Fri, May 21$145-9.2%224d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot170120138156174192210$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1701201351501601701805050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AZN 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

spot1701201351501601701801515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12013815617419221036%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot120135150160170180+$14K−$14K
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
0.92-0.011200.00400.13-0.02-0.07
0.90-0.011250.00510.17-0.02-0.10
0.83-0.031350.00780.24-0.03-0.17
0.73-0.031450.01050.32-0.04-0.27
0.67-0.041500.01160.34-0.04-0.33
0.61-0.041550.01250.37-0.04-0.39
0.55-0.041600.01300.38-0.04-0.46
0.48-0.041650.01310.38-0.04-0.53
0.42-0.041700.01300.38-0.04-0.59
0.36-0.041750.01240.36-0.04-0.66
0.31-0.041800.01170.34-0.04-0.72
0.10-0.022100.00570.17-0.02-0.96

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

spot11014517019524029021K0
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

spot8011014017020026025K25K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 61K call contracts, 32K 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: AZN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk