Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 6:01 PM ET

CHRW max pain

Spot (delayed)$139.55
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$145+3.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$25.95±18.6% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.19329 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$180largest call OI
Put wall$135largest put OI
IV3048.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$214Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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$140+0.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$140+0.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$125-10.4%81d
Fri, Feb 19$145+3.9%116d
Fri, Apr 16$145+3.9%172d
Fri, May 21$125-10.4%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14585128171214257300$21M$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 — 145 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot14585115145175210270572572
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CHRW 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

spot1458511514517521027011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot8512817121425730065%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 9585115145175210270+$88K−$88K
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
0.89-0.031050.00500.15-0.03-0.11
0.86-0.031100.00610.18-0.04-0.14
0.82-0.041150.00730.20-0.04-0.18
0.78-0.041200.00850.23-0.04-0.22
0.73-0.041250.00970.26-0.05-0.27
0.68-0.051300.01080.28-0.05-0.33
0.62-0.051350.01170.30-0.05-0.39
0.56-0.051400.01230.31-0.06-0.45
0.50-0.051450.01260.31-0.06-0.51
0.44-0.051500.01250.31-0.05-0.57
0.38-0.051550.01210.30-0.05-0.63
0.33-0.051600.01150.28-0.05-0.69
0.28-0.041650.01070.27-0.04-0.74
0.24-0.041700.00990.25-0.04-0.78
0.21-0.041750.00890.23-0.04-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot751051401752202903K0
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

spot45851151551952703K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 34K call contracts, 11K 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: CHRW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk