Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 17, 1:46 AM ET

CIB max pain

Spot (delayed)$97.91
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$95-3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.1±12.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.7524 puts / 32 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3039.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $105

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$97.5-0.4%34d
Fri, Dec 18$95-3.0%62d
Fri, Mar 19$97.5-0.4%153d
Fri, Apr 16$105+7.2%181d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot95708090100110120$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 — 95 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot957085951051201616
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CIB 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

spot9570859510512011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot70809010011012059%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 105708595105120+$4K−$4K
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
0.94-0.02700.00500.04-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.02750.00740.06-0.02-0.08
0.88-0.03800.01080.08-0.03-0.12
0.82-0.03850.01560.11-0.03-0.17
0.78-0.0487.50.01840.12-0.04-0.22
0.67-0.0492.50.02390.14-0.04-0.32
0.61-0.04950.02600.15-0.04-0.39
0.54-0.0497.50.02740.16-0.04-0.45
0.47-0.041000.02770.16-0.04-0.52
0.35-0.041050.02550.15-0.04-0.65
0.25-0.041100.02130.13-0.04-0.75
0.17-0.031150.01670.10-0.03-0.83
0.12-0.031200.01270.08-0.03-0.88

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

spot92.597.5105115370
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

spot5575901001201404444
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 126 call contracts, 153 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: CIB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk