Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 4:30 AM ET

BL max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.1
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$25-26.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.18±26.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.44969 puts / 672 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3067.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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$27.5-19.4%23d
Fri, Dec 18$27.5-19.4%51d
Fri, Jan 15$30-12.0%79d
Fri, Feb 19$25-26.7%114d
Fri, Mar 19$25-26.7%142d
Fri, May 21$20-41.3%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152228354148$2M$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot251522.532.54047.5789789
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BL open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot251522.532.54047.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot152228354148115%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 17.51522.532.54047.5+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.00150.00420.01-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.0117.50.00650.02-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01200.00950.03-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0122.50.01330.04-0.01-0.11
0.83-0.01250.01770.05-0.01-0.16
0.70-0.02300.02660.07-0.02-0.29
0.63-0.0232.50.02990.07-0.02-0.37
0.55-0.02350.03180.07-0.02-0.45
0.47-0.0237.50.03220.08-0.02-0.53
0.40-0.02400.03130.07-0.02-0.60
0.34-0.0242.50.02950.07-0.02-0.66
0.29-0.02450.02720.07-0.02-0.72
0.24-0.0247.50.02470.06-0.02-0.76

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

spot15253545557023K0
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

spot1527.54052.5658528K28K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 34K call contracts, 7K 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: BL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk