Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:54 AM ET

CECO max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.4
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65+31.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.95±26.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.2376 puts / 326 calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3083.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $70

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$55+11.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$65+31.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$70+41.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$60+21.5%116d
Fri, Mar 19$60+21.5%144d
Fri, May 21$45-8.9%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65406182103124145$2M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot654060801001201409898
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CECO 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

spot654060801001201405151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot406182103124145167%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 70406080100120140+$4K−$4K
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
0.77-0.05400.01690.06-0.05-0.23
0.66-0.06450.02130.07-0.06-0.33
0.55-0.06500.02340.08-0.06-0.45
0.44-0.06550.02300.08-0.06-0.56
0.35-0.06600.02100.07-0.06-0.65
0.29-0.06650.01860.07-0.06-0.71
0.24-0.05700.01620.06-0.05-0.77
0.20-0.05750.01410.05-0.05-0.81
0.17-0.04800.01230.05-0.05-0.84
0.14-0.04850.01070.04-0.04-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot305575951151355K0
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

spot305070901101305K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K 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: CECO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk