Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 1:12 AM ET

BWXT max pain

Spot (delayed)$127
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$140+10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.9±16.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.3863 puts / 165 calls
Call wall$140largest call OI
Put wall$135largest put OI
IV3053.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 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$150+18.1%28d
Fri, Dec 18$140+10.2%56d
Fri, Jan 15$165+29.9%84d
Fri, Feb 19$145+14.2%119d
Fri, May 21$125-1.6%210d
Fri, Jan 21$125-1.6%455d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14090110130150170190$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 — 140 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot140901151351551754545
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BWXT 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

spot140901151351551757878
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot9011013015017019065%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 14090115135155175+$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
0.95-0.01900.00360.05-0.03-0.05
0.93-0.02950.00500.07-0.04-0.08
0.85-0.041050.00860.12-0.06-0.15
0.80-0.061100.01060.14-0.07-0.21
0.73-0.071150.01250.17-0.07-0.27
0.66-0.081200.01410.18-0.08-0.34
0.59-0.081250.01520.20-0.09-0.42
0.51-0.091300.01560.20-0.09-0.49
0.43-0.091350.01550.20-0.08-0.57
0.36-0.081400.01480.19-0.08-0.64
0.30-0.081450.01370.17-0.07-0.71
0.25-0.071500.01230.16-0.06-0.76
0.20-0.061550.01090.14-0.05-0.81
0.16-0.051600.00940.12-0.04-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot851201551902503209180
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

spot701051401752202903K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 21K call contracts, 8K 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: BWXT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk