Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:28 PM ET

BETR max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.3
Max pain · Fri, Jul 16$17.5+14.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.15±72.9% by Fri, Jul 16
Put/Call OI0.35266 puts / 750 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV30134.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$10-34.6%30d
Fri, Dec 18$10-34.6%58d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-18.3%86d
Fri, Mar 19$12.5-18.3%149d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-18.3%177d
Fri, Jul 16$17.5+14.4%268d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.551729415365$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jul 16

spot17.551522.5355065321321
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BETR open contracts per strike for Fri, Jul 16.

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, Jul 16

spot17.551522.535506533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jul 16

spot51729415365161%115%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 116.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jul 16

spotflip 17.551522.5355065+$1K−$1K
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, Jul 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.0150.01050.01-0.00-0.06
0.86-0.017.50.01470.02-0.01-0.11
0.72-0.0112.50.02130.04-0.01-0.23
0.65-0.01150.02310.04-0.01-0.29
0.60-0.0117.50.02410.05-0.01-0.34
0.55-0.01200.02450.05-0.01-0.39
0.50-0.0122.50.02440.05-0.01-0.43
0.47-0.01250.02410.05-0.01-0.46
0.41-0.01300.02310.05-0.01-0.52
0.36-0.01350.02190.05-0.01-0.57
0.32-0.01400.02070.04-0.01-0.61

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.51017.52540552K0
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

spot2.51017.52540556K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 16K call contracts, 8K 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: BETR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk