Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:46 PM ET

BPOP max pain

Spot (delayed)$159.17
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$165+3.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.15±12.7% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.0017 puts / 17 calls
Call wall$165largest call OI
Put wall$160largest put OI
IV3024.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$438per 1% move · flip ≈ $140

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$165+3.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$145-8.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$160+0.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$165+3.7%172d
Fri, May 21$130-18.3%207d
Thu, Jun 17$120-24.6%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot165110140170200230260$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 — 165 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot16511012016017018026099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BPOP 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

spot16511012016017018026011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot11014017020023026049%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 140110120160170180260+$3K−$3K
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
0.94-0.011100.00290.14-0.02-0.07
0.92-0.011150.00350.16-0.02-0.08
0.91-0.021200.00430.18-0.02-0.10
0.80-0.021400.00930.31-0.03-0.21
0.55-0.031600.01580.43-0.03-0.46
0.47-0.031650.01620.43-0.03-0.55
0.40-0.031700.01580.42-0.03-0.63
0.33-0.031750.01460.40-0.03-0.70
0.27-0.021800.01320.37-0.03-0.77
0.23-0.021850.01160.33-0.02-0.81
0.03-0.012600.00200.09-0.01-1.00

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

spot1001601751902104020
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

spot80110140170200260413413
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 774 call contracts, 681 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: BPOP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk