Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 20, 1:31 AM ET

BKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$40.29
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$42.5+5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.05±7.6% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI2.50312 puts / 125 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3030.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$32Kper 1% move
Earnings · expectedFri, Nov 20usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 16$42.5+5.5%25d
Fri, Nov 20$40-0.7%60d← 1st expiry after earnings (Fri, Nov 20)
Fri, Dec 18$45+11.7%88d
Fri, Mar 19$45+11.7%179d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5283338434853$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot42.527.532.537.542.547.552.5128128
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKE open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 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, Oct 16

spot42.527.532.537.542.547.552.555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot28333843485397%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot27.532.537.542.547.552.5+$16K$16K
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, Oct 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0127.50.00930.01-0.02-0.05
0.94-0.02300.01430.01-0.02-0.07
0.92-0.0232.50.02280.02-0.02-0.10
0.87-0.02350.03890.02-0.02-0.15
0.78-0.0237.50.07170.03-0.02-0.25
0.56-0.02400.12030.04-0.02-0.48
0.30-0.0242.50.09690.04-0.02-0.73
0.17-0.02450.05840.03-0.02-0.84
0.12-0.0247.50.03750.02-0.02-0.89
0.08-0.02500.02600.02-0.01-0.92
0.07-0.0152.50.01910.01-0.01-0.94

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

spot22.5354552.5601720
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

spot22.532.542.552.562.580191191
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 849 call contracts, 580 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: BKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk