Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 1, 2:23 AM ET

CL max pain

Spot (delayed)$95.29
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$87.5-8.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.65±11.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.503K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$87.5largest put OI
IV3023.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$895Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $105

Event risk before this expiration: 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 6$92-3.5%5d
Fri, Nov 13$90-5.6%12d
Fri, Nov 20$90-5.6%19d
Fri, Nov 27$93-2.4%26d
Fri, Dec 4$90-5.6%33d
Fri, Dec 18$90-5.6%47d
Fri, Jan 15$87.5-8.2%75d
Fri, Feb 19$90-5.6%110d
Fri, Mar 19$87.5-8.2%138d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot87.5456483102121140$20M$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 — 87.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot87.5456580901001204K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CL 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

spot87.5456580901001206969
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot45648310212114085%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 10545658090100120+$875K−$875K
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
0.91-0.0177.50.00990.10-0.01-0.09
0.89-0.01800.01220.12-0.01-0.12
0.86-0.0182.50.01500.14-0.01-0.15
0.82-0.01850.01820.16-0.01-0.19
0.77-0.0187.50.02160.18-0.02-0.24
0.71-0.02900.02480.20-0.02-0.30
0.64-0.0292.50.02760.22-0.02-0.37
0.57-0.02950.02960.23-0.02-0.44
0.50-0.0297.50.03040.23-0.02-0.52
0.43-0.021000.03000.23-0.02-0.60
0.29-0.021050.02630.20-0.02-0.73
0.20-0.011100.02070.17-0.02-0.85
0.14-0.011150.01540.13-0.02-0.92
0.10-0.011200.01160.11-0.01-0.96
0.08-0.011250.00910.09-0.01-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot55879195991101K0
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

spot40768492.51011358K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39K call contracts, 34K 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: CL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk