Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:47 AM ET

BTSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.09
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$40-33.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.45±15.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.35288 puts / 820 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3056.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$31Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$60-0.1%26d
Fri, Dec 18$40-33.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$55-8.5%82d
Fri, Feb 19$55-8.5%117d
Fri, Mar 19$60-0.1%145d
Fri, Apr 16$55-8.5%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot401834516784100$4M$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

spot4017.530507090173173
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BTSG 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

spot4017.53050709033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1834516784100189%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 5017.530507090+$9K−$9K
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
0.97-0.02250.00210.02-0.02-0.03
0.96-0.02300.00320.02-0.02-0.04
0.94-0.03350.00490.03-0.03-0.06
0.92-0.03400.00750.04-0.03-0.09
0.88-0.03450.01150.05-0.03-0.12
0.81-0.04500.01770.06-0.04-0.19
0.71-0.04550.02580.08-0.04-0.29
0.56-0.04600.03190.09-0.04-0.44
0.41-0.04650.03140.09-0.04-0.60
0.29-0.04700.02640.08-0.04-0.72
0.21-0.03750.02090.07-0.04-0.81
0.15-0.03800.01620.06-0.03-0.87
0.11-0.03850.01260.05-0.03-0.91
0.09-0.02900.01000.04-0.03-0.94
0.07-0.02950.00790.03-0.02-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.530456075901K0
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

spot17.5305070904K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K 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: BTSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk