Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:42 AM ET

BEAM max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.05
Max pain · Fri, May 21$23-4.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.58±44.0% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.7429 puts / 39 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3069.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$179per 1% move · flip ≈ $19

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$24-0.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$28+16.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$25+4.0%81d
Fri, Feb 19$25+4.0%116d
Fri, May 21$23-4.4%207d
Fri, Jan 21$30+24.7%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot23161923263033$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 — 23 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot2316192326302828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BEAM open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot23161923263011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot16192326303381%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 191619232630+$435−$435
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.01160.01620.04-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.01170.01810.05-0.01-0.18
0.78-0.01180.02000.05-0.01-0.21
0.76-0.01190.02190.06-0.01-0.23
0.73-0.01200.02370.06-0.01-0.26
0.67-0.01220.02680.07-0.01-0.32
0.64-0.01230.02800.07-0.01-0.35
0.61-0.01240.02890.07-0.01-0.38
0.58-0.01250.02950.07-0.01-0.41
0.56-0.01260.02980.07-0.01-0.44
0.53-0.01270.02980.07-0.01-0.47
0.48-0.01290.02940.07-0.01-0.52
0.46-0.01300.02900.07-0.01-0.54
0.41-0.01330.02730.07-0.01-0.59

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

spot1322283440472K0
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

spot318253239475K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 16K call contracts, 3K 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: BEAM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk