Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:04 AM ET

CDNS max pain

Spot (delayed)$316.5
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$310-2.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$66.25±20.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.94850 puts / 909 calls
Call wall$340largest call OI
Put wall$260largest put OI
IV3049.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$118Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $170

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$322.5+1.9%4d
Fri, Nov 6$315-0.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$335+5.8%18d
Fri, Nov 20$320+1.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$325+2.7%32d
Fri, Dec 4$320+1.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$320+1.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$350+10.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$310-2.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$320+1.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot310170252334416498580$18M$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 — 310 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot310170250320370425485121121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CDNS 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

spot31017025032037042548522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot17025233441649858064%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 170170250320370425485+$48K−$48K
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
0.78-0.112700.00340.54-0.11-0.22
0.74-0.122800.00380.59-0.12-0.26
0.70-0.122900.00410.63-0.13-0.31
0.68-0.132950.00430.65-0.13-0.33
0.65-0.133000.00440.67-0.13-0.35
0.63-0.133050.00450.68-0.14-0.38
0.61-0.143100.00460.70-0.14-0.40
0.58-0.143150.00470.71-0.14-0.42
0.56-0.143200.00480.71-0.14-0.45
0.54-0.143250.00480.72-0.14-0.47
0.51-0.143300.00480.72-0.14-0.50
0.49-0.143350.00480.72-0.14-0.52
0.47-0.143400.00480.72-0.14-0.55
0.44-0.143450.00480.71-0.14-0.57
0.42-0.133500.00480.71-0.14-0.59

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 57 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot275312.5332.5352.53854251420
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

spot1602302953403904903K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 28K call contracts, 24K 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: CDNS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk