Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 20, 3:29 AM ET

CMBT max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.35
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$17.5+0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3±17.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.60102 puts / 170 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3038.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$17.5+0.9%31d
Fri, Dec 18$20+15.3%59d
Fri, Jan 15$15-13.5%87d
Fri, Feb 19$17.5+0.9%122d
Fri, Mar 19$15-13.5%150d
Fri, May 21$10-42.4%213d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.581217212630$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot17.57.512.517.522.5307373
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMBT 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

spot17.57.512.517.522.53011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot8121721263097%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 107.512.517.522.530+$1K−$1K
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
0.96-0.007.50.00890.01-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.00100.01780.01-0.00-0.06
0.88-0.0012.50.03580.02-0.00-0.12
0.75-0.01150.06900.03-0.01-0.24
0.53-0.0117.50.09650.04-0.01-0.46
0.33-0.01200.08260.04-0.01-0.66
0.22-0.0122.50.06010.03-0.01-0.78
0.15-0.01250.04390.02-0.00-0.85
0.09-0.00300.02580.02-0.00-0.92

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

spot5101520253K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 6K 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: CMBT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk