Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:55 PM ET

BRKR max pain

Spot (delayed)$57.86
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$40-30.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.9±18.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.21750 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3068.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$196Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22.5

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$57.5-0.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$40-30.9%53d
Fri, Mar 19$60+3.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$75+29.6%234d
Fri, Dec 17$35-39.5%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40183247617690$10M$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4017.53042.55567.590763763
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BRKR 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

spot4017.53042.55567.59011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot183247617690218%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 22.517.53042.55567.590+$66K−$66K
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
0.92-0.02400.00870.03-0.02-0.08
0.89-0.0342.50.01130.04-0.03-0.10
0.86-0.03450.01440.05-0.03-0.14
0.82-0.0347.50.01800.06-0.04-0.18
0.76-0.04500.02160.07-0.04-0.23
0.70-0.0452.50.02480.08-0.04-0.30
0.63-0.05550.02730.08-0.05-0.37
0.56-0.0557.50.02870.09-0.05-0.44
0.49-0.05600.02900.09-0.05-0.51
0.42-0.0562.50.02820.09-0.05-0.58
0.36-0.05650.02680.08-0.05-0.64
0.31-0.0567.50.02480.08-0.04-0.69
0.26-0.04700.02270.07-0.04-0.74
0.19-0.04750.01830.06-0.04-0.81
0.14-0.03800.01450.05-0.03-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.53042.55567.5851K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.5851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 1K 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: BRKR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk