Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:16 PM ET

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.75
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$42.5+9.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.45±14.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI3.0917K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3047.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1.2Mper 1% move

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$37.5-3.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5+9.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$47.5+22.6%81d
Fri, Mar 19$42.5+9.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$40+3.2%234d
Fri, Jan 21$42.5+9.7%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5253443526170$25M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot42.52532.54047.5556513K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG 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

spot42.52532.54047.555654040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25344352617079%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2532.54047.55565+$1.2M−$1.2M
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
0.98-0.00250.00690.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.0127.50.01330.01-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01300.02230.02-0.01-0.10
0.84-0.0232.50.03390.04-0.02-0.16
0.74-0.02350.04700.05-0.02-0.26
0.61-0.0237.50.05880.06-0.02-0.40
0.45-0.02400.06310.06-0.02-0.56
0.31-0.0242.50.05710.05-0.02-0.71
0.20-0.02450.04480.04-0.02-0.82
0.12-0.0147.50.03220.03-0.01-0.90
0.08-0.01500.02220.02-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.0152.50.01520.01-0.00-0.97
0.03-0.01550.01040.01-0.00-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.532.54557.570908K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.58523K23K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 46K call contracts, 61K 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: CG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk