Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:16 PM ET

CHDN max pain

Spot (delayed)$84.13
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$85+1.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.85±18.8% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.40306 puts / 219 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3040.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$16Kper 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$80-4.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$80-4.9%53d
Fri, Mar 19$85+1.0%144d
Thu, Jun 17$95+12.9%234d
Fri, Dec 17$80-4.9%417d
Fri, Jan 21$80-4.9%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8545617793109125$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot85457085100115161161
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CHDN open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot8545708510011511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot4561779310912548%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 70457085100115+$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 · Fri, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.00450.00200.03-0.01-0.03
0.91-0.01600.00660.08-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.01650.00920.11-0.02-0.13
0.81-0.02700.01240.14-0.02-0.19
0.74-0.02750.01570.17-0.02-0.27
0.65-0.02800.01850.20-0.03-0.36
0.55-0.03850.02020.21-0.03-0.46
0.46-0.03900.02020.21-0.03-0.56
0.37-0.03950.01910.20-0.03-0.66
0.29-0.021000.01710.18-0.02-0.73
0.23-0.021050.01490.16-0.02-0.80
0.19-0.021100.01280.14-0.02-0.85
0.15-0.021150.01090.13-0.01-0.88
0.10-0.011250.00780.10-0.01-0.93

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

spot4570901101301556080
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

spot4065901151401659K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 18K 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: CHDN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk