Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:52 AM ET

CGBD max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.22
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$12.5+22.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.4±13.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI2.87264 puts / 92 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3031.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$6Kper 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$10-2.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$10-2.2%54d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5+22.3%117d
Fri, May 21$10-2.2%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.581013151820$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12.57.51012.51517.520233233
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CGBD 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

spot12.57.51012.51517.52011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot8101315182092%17%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot7.51012.51517.520+$7K−$7K
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
0.92-0.007.50.06100.01-0.00-0.13
0.61-0.00100.33810.02-0.00-0.49
0.11-0.0012.50.11520.01-0.00-0.91
0.05-0.00150.04420.01-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.0017.50.02440.00-0.00-0.97
0.02-0.00200.01600.000.00-0.98

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

spot7.51012.5152740
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 341 call contracts, 4K 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: CGBD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk