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

BKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$40.29
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$45+11.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.5±13.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.38226 puts / 602 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3030.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30
Earnings · expectedFri, Nov 20usually after the close

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · 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$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

spot45233242516170$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4522.53542.55057.570153153
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKE open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot4522.53542.55057.5703030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot23324251617065%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 3022.53542.55057.570+$11K$11K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0122.50.00540.01-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.0127.50.01180.03-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.01300.01720.03-0.01-0.09
0.80-0.01350.03640.06-0.01-0.20
0.70-0.0137.50.05060.07-0.01-0.31
0.56-0.01400.06130.08-0.01-0.45
0.41-0.0142.50.06010.08-0.01-0.61
0.29-0.01450.05050.07-0.01-0.73
0.22-0.0147.50.04000.06-0.01-0.81
0.17-0.01500.03140.05-0.01-0.86
0.13-0.0152.50.02500.04-0.01-0.90
0.10-0.01550.02020.04-0.01-0.92
0.09-0.0157.50.01650.03-0.01-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 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

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