Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 6:59 PM ET

BKNG max pain

Spot (delayed)$150.23
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$150-0.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.9±13.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.5741K puts / 72K calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3046.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3.8Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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, Oct 30$160+6.5%3d
Fri, Nov 6$165+9.8%10d
Fri, Nov 13$165+9.8%17d
Fri, Nov 20$165+9.8%24d
Fri, Nov 27$155+3.2%31d
Fri, Dec 4$140-6.8%38d
Fri, Dec 18$150-0.2%52d
Fri, Jan 15$186+23.8%80d
Fri, Mar 19$175+16.5%143d
Fri, Apr 16$200+33.1%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15084136188240292344$1.0B$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 — 150 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1508414416018020222820K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKNG 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

spot1508414416018020222820K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot84136188240292344121%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 15084144160180202228+$6.6M−$6.6M
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
0.74-0.081380.01280.19-0.08-0.27
0.71-0.081400.01350.20-0.09-0.30
0.68-0.091420.01410.20-0.09-0.33
0.65-0.091440.01470.21-0.09-0.36
0.63-0.091450.01490.21-0.09-0.37
0.62-0.091460.01520.22-0.09-0.39
0.59-0.091480.01550.22-0.09-0.42
0.56-0.091500.01580.23-0.10-0.45
0.52-0.091520.01600.23-0.10-0.48
0.49-0.091540.01610.23-0.10-0.52
0.48-0.091550.01610.23-0.09-0.53
0.46-0.091560.01610.23-0.09-0.55
0.43-0.091580.01600.22-0.09-0.58
0.40-0.091600.01580.22-0.09-0.61
0.37-0.091620.01550.21-0.09-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot115148162.5177.52002505K0
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

spot8415217019422028421K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 335K call contracts, 273K 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: BKNG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk