Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:52 AM ET

CAI max pain

Spot (delayed)$32.03
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$17.5-45.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.05±56.4% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.42827 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3083.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$30-6.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-45.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$20-37.6%82d
Fri, Mar 19$20-37.6%145d
Fri, Apr 16$30-6.3%173d
Fri, Dec 17$17.5-45.4%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.531120283745$3M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot17.52.51017.52540592592
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot17.52.51017.525401515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot51321293745147%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 70.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 7.52.51017.52540+$8K−$8K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00100.00300.04-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.0012.50.00430.04-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.00150.00570.06-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.0017.50.00720.07-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01200.00880.08-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.0122.50.01040.09-0.01-0.19
0.77-0.01250.01190.10-0.01-0.23
0.69-0.01300.01420.12-0.01-0.31
0.62-0.01350.01560.13-0.01-0.39
0.55-0.01400.01620.13-0.01-0.46
0.49-0.01450.01630.14-0.01-0.53

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.512.517.522.530402K0
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

spot2.51017.525404K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 4K 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: CAI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk