Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:00 AM ET

CCB max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.22
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$35-22.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.15±31.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.4227 puts / 19 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3061.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$253per 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$40-11.5%25d
Fri, Jan 15$40-11.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$35-22.6%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35253545556575$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3525355060751414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CCB open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot35253550607511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot25354555657584%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 552535506075+$323−$323
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.01250.00600.04-0.01-0.07
0.87-0.01300.00960.07-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.01350.01390.09-0.02-0.20
0.71-0.02400.01800.11-0.02-0.29
0.49-0.02500.02260.13-0.02-0.52
0.39-0.02550.02220.12-0.02-0.62
0.30-0.02600.02050.11-0.02-0.72
0.23-0.01650.01800.10-0.02-0.79
0.14-0.01750.01280.07-0.01-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot25405570954K0
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

spot20355575951154K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 2K 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: CCB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk