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

CBRL max pain

Spot (delayed)$67.66
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$35-48.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.9±44.2% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.39975 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$27.5largest put OI
IV3048.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$83Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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

spot351330486583100$9M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot3512.527.542.557.572.595713713
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CBRL 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

spot3512.527.542.557.572.5952323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot1330486583100117%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 2012.527.5456075100+$33K−$33K
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
0.80-0.01500.00670.20-0.01-0.20
0.78-0.0152.50.00720.21-0.01-0.22
0.76-0.01550.00770.22-0.01-0.24
0.73-0.0157.50.00810.23-0.01-0.27
0.71-0.01600.00860.24-0.01-0.29
0.68-0.0162.50.00890.25-0.01-0.32
0.66-0.01650.00930.26-0.02-0.34
0.64-0.0167.50.00960.27-0.02-0.37
0.61-0.01700.00980.27-0.02-0.39
0.59-0.0272.50.01000.28-0.02-0.42
0.57-0.02750.01020.28-0.02-0.44
0.54-0.0277.50.01030.28-0.02-0.47
0.52-0.02800.01040.28-0.02-0.49
0.48-0.02850.01040.28-0.02-0.54
0.44-0.02900.01040.28-0.01-0.59

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 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