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

CI max pain

Spot (delayed)$305.01
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$280-8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$30±9.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.214K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$350largest call OI
Put wall$280largest put OI
IV3034.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$235Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $200

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, Oct 30$285-6.6%4d
Fri, Nov 6$275-9.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$280-8.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$280-8.2%25d
Fri, Nov 27$295-3.3%32d
Fri, Dec 4$315+3.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$280-8.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$180-41.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$270-11.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$270-11.5%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot280135216297378459540$68M$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 — 280 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2801351802403204004901K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot28013518024032040049088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13521629737845954097%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 200180220280340400460+$606K−$606K
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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.022400.00180.09-0.03-0.04
0.94-0.042500.00280.13-0.05-0.07
0.91-0.062600.00420.20-0.07-0.10
0.86-0.082700.00600.26-0.09-0.16
0.78-0.102800.00780.34-0.11-0.23
0.69-0.122900.00950.40-0.13-0.32
0.59-0.143000.01060.45-0.14-0.42
0.48-0.143100.01100.46-0.14-0.53
0.38-0.133200.01050.44-0.13-0.63
0.29-0.123300.00940.40-0.11-0.72
0.21-0.103400.00790.34-0.09-0.80
0.15-0.083500.00630.27-0.07-0.86
0.10-0.063600.00480.21-0.05-0.91
0.07-0.053700.00360.16-0.04-0.94
0.05-0.033800.00260.12-0.04-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot235277.5292.5305317.53352K0
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

spot17024028531036045011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 22K 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: CI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk