Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 10, 11:18 PM ET

BEPC max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.63
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$30+1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.1±17.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.04360 puts / 346 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3031.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 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$30+1.2%5d
Fri, Nov 20$30+1.2%40d
Fri, Dec 18$35+18.1%68d
Fri, Mar 19$30+1.2%159d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30182431374450$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3017.522.5304050211211
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BEPC 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

spot3017.522.53040502727
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot18243137445065%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot17.522.5304050+$9K−$9K
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
0.99-0.0017.50.00480.01-0.00-0.04
0.96-0.00200.01310.01-0.00-0.07
0.91-0.0022.50.02730.03-0.01-0.13
0.81-0.01250.04440.05-0.01-0.22
0.52-0.01300.06440.08-0.01-0.50
0.25-0.01350.05030.06-0.01-0.76
0.11-0.00400.02840.04-0.00-0.89
0.05-0.00450.01500.02-0.00-0.94
0.03-0.00500.00820.010.00-0.97

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

spot22.5304050601K0
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

spot1522.53550652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K 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: BEPC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk