Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:44 PM ET

CBRS max pain

Spot (delayed)$108.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$135+24.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.7±27.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.884K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3091.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$28Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $160

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, Oct 30$117+7.8%4d
Fri, Nov 6$145+33.6%11d
Fri, Nov 13$150+38.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$160+47.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$150+38.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$135+24.4%39d
Fri, Dec 18$135+24.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$165+52.1%81d
Fri, Mar 19$165+52.1%144d
Fri, Apr 16$165+52.1%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1356594123152181210$28M$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 — 135 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13565901151401651901K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CBRS 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

spot1356590115140165190272272
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6594123152181210105%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 89.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1606590115140165190+$99K−$99K
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
0.90-0.06750.00480.07-0.06-0.10
0.86-0.07800.00600.09-0.07-0.14
0.82-0.08850.00730.11-0.09-0.18
0.77-0.10900.00840.13-0.10-0.23
0.72-0.11950.00940.14-0.11-0.28
0.67-0.121000.01020.15-0.12-0.34
0.61-0.131050.01080.16-0.13-0.39
0.56-0.131100.01110.16-0.13-0.45
0.50-0.131150.01120.17-0.13-0.50
0.45-0.131200.01110.16-0.13-0.55
0.40-0.131250.01090.16-0.13-0.60
0.36-0.131300.01040.15-0.12-0.65
0.32-0.121350.00990.15-0.12-0.69
0.28-0.111400.00940.14-0.11-0.73
0.25-0.111450.00880.13-0.10-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot60110126157.51902304K0
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

spot6511014519529042014K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 154K call contracts, 144K 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: CBRS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk