Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 12:17 AM ET

CACC max pain

Spot (delayed)$540
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$460-14.8% vs spot
Put/Call OI0.2028 puts / 140 calls
Call wall$680largest call OI
Put wall$460largest put OI
IV3029.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$89Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $490

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$500-7.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$460-14.8%53d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot460270352434516598680$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 — 460 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4602703504504805406208585
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CACC 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

spot46027035045048054062011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot35041648254861468083%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 490270350450480540620+$47K−$47K
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
0.88-0.184400.00200.42-0.20-0.12
0.86-0.184500.00220.45-0.20-0.14
0.85-0.194600.00260.48-0.20-0.15
0.83-0.194700.00300.52-0.20-0.17
0.81-0.194800.00340.55-0.20-0.19
0.79-0.184900.00400.59-0.19-0.21
0.76-0.185000.00480.64-0.19-0.24
0.52-0.165400.00920.82-0.17-0.49
0.34-0.145600.00880.75-0.14-0.68
0.27-0.135700.00760.68-0.14-0.75
0.12-0.116200.00330.42-0.12-0.91
0.07-0.096800.00170.27-0.10-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot270420500560620850
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

spot2503504204905506808585
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 205 call contracts, 96 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: CACC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk