Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:52 AM ET

CARG max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.52
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$28-11.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.48±23.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.5770 puts / 122 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$34largest put OI
IV3066.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$313per 1% move · flip ≈ $34

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$34+7.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$28-11.2%53d
Fri, Feb 19$28-11.2%116d
Fri, May 21$29-8.0%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot28202632384450$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 — 28 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot282027313539504646
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CARG open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot2820273135395011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot20263238445084%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 34202731353950+$2K−$2K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.01240.02190.04-0.01-0.15
0.84-0.01250.02500.05-0.01-0.18
0.78-0.01270.03150.06-0.01-0.24
0.74-0.01280.03470.06-0.01-0.28
0.71-0.01290.03780.06-0.01-0.32
0.67-0.01300.04050.07-0.01-0.36
0.62-0.01310.04280.07-0.01-0.40
0.58-0.01320.04440.07-0.02-0.45
0.54-0.01330.04550.07-0.02-0.49
0.49-0.01340.04580.07-0.02-0.54
0.45-0.01350.04560.07-0.02-0.59
0.41-0.01360.04480.07-0.02-0.63
0.37-0.01370.04340.07-0.01-0.67
0.34-0.01380.04180.07-0.01-0.71
0.30-0.01390.03980.06-0.01-0.75

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot202630343842970
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

spot1524293439455K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 537 call contracts, 17K 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: CARG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk