Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:57 AM ET

CHEF max pain

Spot (delayed)$105.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$110+4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.55±22.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.6131 puts / 51 calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3048.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$120+13.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$115+9.0%54d
Fri, Jan 15$110+4.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$110+4.3%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot110557289106123140$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 — 110 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1105575951151251402222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CHEF open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot11055759511512514022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot55728910612314069%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 110557595115125140+$3K−$3K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.01550.00180.06-0.01-0.04
0.92-0.01700.00400.12-0.02-0.09
0.89-0.02750.00510.14-0.02-0.11
0.86-0.02800.00640.17-0.02-0.14
0.72-0.03950.01070.25-0.03-0.28
0.53-0.031100.01360.29-0.03-0.48
0.47-0.031150.01380.29-0.03-0.55
0.40-0.031200.01360.28-0.03-0.62
0.35-0.031250.01300.27-0.03-0.69
0.25-0.031350.01110.23-0.03-0.80
0.21-0.021400.01000.21-0.03-0.85

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

spot5570951101251402570
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

spot406590115140165263263
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 758 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: CHEF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk