Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 10:03 AM ET

BCRX max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.92
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$7-11.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.28±41.4% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.201 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$8largest call OI
Put wall$7largest put OI
IV3050.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$25per 1% move · flip ≈ $8

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$8+1.0%24d
Fri, Dec 18$8+1.0%52d
Fri, Jan 15$7-11.6%80d
Fri, Mar 19$5-36.9%143d
Fri, Apr 16$7-11.6%171d
Thu, Jun 17$7-11.6%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot778991011$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot7781144
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BCRX open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot7781144
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 87811+$25−$25
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.71-0.0070.08180.02-0.00-0.30
0.61-0.0080.09940.02-0.00-0.40
0.38-0.00110.09300.02-0.00-0.65

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

spot14710131614K0
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

spot159131716K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 42K call contracts, 6K 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: BCRX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk