Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 1:02 AM ET

BLZE max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.24
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$7.5-18.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.85±52.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.23234 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV30119.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$12.5+35.3%30d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5+35.3%58d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+35.3%86d
Fri, Apr 16$7.5-18.8%177d
Thu, Jun 17$7.5-18.8%239d
Fri, Sep 17$2.5-72.9%331d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.53814192530$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.530313313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BLZE open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 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, Apr 16

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.53022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3814192530130%89%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 7.52.57.512.517.522.530+$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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.002.50.00790.01-0.00-0.03
0.89-0.0050.02700.01-0.00-0.11
0.75-0.017.50.05110.02-0.01-0.25
0.60-0.01100.06390.03-0.01-0.41
0.47-0.0112.50.06500.03-0.01-0.55
0.36-0.01150.06030.02-0.01-0.65
0.29-0.0117.50.05390.02-0.01-0.73
0.23-0.01200.04750.02-0.00-0.80
0.19-0.0122.50.04150.02-0.00-0.84
0.16-0.00250.03630.02-0.00-0.89
0.11-0.00300.02800.01-0.00-0.95

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5303K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 9K 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: BLZE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk