Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:24 PM ET

CMCSA max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.05
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$23+4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.18±18.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.242K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$23largest call OI
Put wall$23largest put OI
IV3034.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$216Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $23

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$23+4.3%4d
Fri, Nov 6$20-9.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$23+4.3%18d
Fri, Nov 20$22-0.2%25d
Fri, Nov 27$22-0.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$22-0.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$24+8.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$24+8.8%81d
Fri, Mar 19$24+8.8%144d
Fri, Apr 16$23+4.3%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot23141924303540$13M$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 — 23 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot231418222630356K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMCSA open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot23141822263035197197
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot14192430354047%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 23141822263035+$197K−$197K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.00150.01800.01-0.00-0.07
0.93-0.00160.02670.02-0.00-0.10
0.89-0.00170.03660.03-0.00-0.14
0.84-0.00180.04650.04-0.00-0.19
0.78-0.00190.05590.04-0.01-0.25
0.71-0.01200.06440.05-0.01-0.31
0.64-0.01210.07110.06-0.01-0.38
0.57-0.01220.07550.06-0.01-0.46
0.49-0.01230.07700.06-0.01-0.53
0.42-0.01240.07580.06-0.01-0.60
0.36-0.01250.07220.06-0.01-0.66
0.30-0.01260.06690.05-0.00-0.72
0.25-0.01270.06070.05-0.00-0.77
0.20-0.00280.05410.04-0.00-0.81
0.17-0.00290.04750.04-0.00-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot151921.52426.5317K0
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

spot1318.52225.53037176K176K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 544K call contracts, 229K 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: CMCSA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk