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

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.75
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$40+3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.25±26.5% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.33204 puts / 621 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3047.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$21Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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

spot40202734414855$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot402030354555520520
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot4020303545552121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot20273441485559%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 452030354555+$24K−$24K
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96—200.00570.03-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.00250.01120.05-0.01-0.10
0.81-0.01300.01890.08-0.01-0.19
0.76-0.0132.50.02300.10-0.01-0.25
0.69-0.01350.02660.11-0.01-0.32
0.54-0.01400.03120.12-0.01-0.47
0.40-0.01450.03100.12-0.01-0.62
0.28-0.01500.02710.10-0.01-0.74
0.19-0.01550.02170.08-0.00-0.84

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

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