Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:42 AM ET

BVS max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.98
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$7.5-49.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.53±36.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.0527 puts / 532 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3071.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move

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$12.5-16.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$15+0.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$5-66.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$7.5-49.9%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.581115182225$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

spot7.57.512.517.522.5199199
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BVS 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

spot7.57.512.517.522.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10131619222591%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot7.512.517.522.5+$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
0.91-0.007.50.01760.01-0.00-0.08
0.83-0.01100.03070.02-0.01-0.16
0.72-0.0112.50.04570.03-0.01-0.27
0.57-0.01150.05640.04-0.01-0.41
0.44-0.0117.50.05860.04-0.01-0.55
0.32-0.01200.05360.04-0.01-0.66
0.24-0.0122.50.04580.03-0.01-0.75
0.18-0.01250.03780.03-0.01-0.81

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

spot2.57.512.517.55190
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530566566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 86 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: BVS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk