Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:16 AM ET

CBRL max pain

Spot (delayed)$67.66
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$52.5-22.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.15±28.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.42698 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$52.5largest put OI
IV3048.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$99Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $75

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$60-11.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$52.5-22.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$50-26.1%81d
Fri, Mar 19$52.5-22.4%144d
Thu, Jun 17$60-11.3%234d
Fri, Dec 17$35-48.3%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot52.52843597490105$5M$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 — 52.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot52.527.537.547.557.567.5851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CBRL open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot52.527.537.547.557.567.5856666
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot284359749010592%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 7527.537.547.557.567.585+$107K−$107K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.02500.00940.10-0.02-0.15
0.82-0.0252.50.01080.11-0.02-0.18
0.78-0.02550.01210.13-0.02-0.21
0.74-0.0357.50.01340.14-0.03-0.25
0.71-0.03600.01450.15-0.03-0.29
0.67-0.0362.50.01540.15-0.03-0.33
0.62-0.03650.01620.16-0.03-0.38
0.58-0.0367.50.01670.17-0.03-0.42
0.54-0.03700.01710.17-0.03-0.46
0.46-0.03750.01710.17-0.03-0.54
0.39-0.03800.01650.16-0.03-0.62
0.32-0.03850.01550.15-0.03-0.69
0.17-0.021000.01110.11-0.02-0.84
0.14-0.021050.00960.10-0.02-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot153547.56072.5901K0
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

spot12.527.542.557.572.5954K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 21K call contracts, 20K 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: CBRL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk