Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:01 AM ET

CLOV max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.62
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$4.5-2.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.91±19.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.66350 puts / 533 calls
Call wall$6largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3070.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2.5

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$4.5-2.6%5d
Fri, Nov 6$4.5-2.6%12d
Fri, Nov 13$4-13.4%19d
Fri, Nov 20$4-13.4%26d
Fri, Nov 27$3.5-24.2%33d
Fri, Dec 4$3.5-24.2%40d
Fri, Dec 18$4.5-2.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$3-35.1%82d
Fri, Feb 19$4.5-2.6%117d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4.5134679$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 — 4.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4.512.545.58182182
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CLOV 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

spot4.512.545.587171
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot134679247%55%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2.512.54568+$775−$775
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
0.99-0.0010.00850.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.001.50.01520.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.0020.02680.00-0.00-0.03
0.96-0.002.50.04820.00-0.00-0.04
0.93-0.0030.08910.00-0.00-0.07
0.87-0.003.50.16190.00-0.00-0.13
0.75-0.0040.26030.01-0.00-0.25
0.59-0.004.50.33260.01-0.00-0.41
0.43-0.0050.33690.01-0.00-0.57
0.30-0.005.50.29120.01-0.00-0.71
0.20-0.0060.22960.01-0.00-0.81
0.09-0.0070.12510.00-0.00-0.93
0.04-0.0080.06360.00-0.00-0.99
0.020.0090.03180.000.00-1.00

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

spot0.523.556.587K0
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

spot0.52.54.56.58.547K47K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 241K call contracts, 66K 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: CLOV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk