Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 4:59 AM ET

CME max pain

Spot (delayed)$293.28
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$295+0.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.85±6.4% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.021 puts / 45 calls
Call wall$310largest call OI
Put wall$325largest put OI
IV3024.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$43Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$310+5.7%2d
Fri, Nov 6$305+4.0%9d
Fri, Nov 13$295+0.6%16d
Fri, Nov 20$287.5-2.0%23d
Fri, Nov 27$275-6.2%30d
Fri, Dec 4$295+0.6%37d
Fri, Dec 18$260-11.3%51d
Fri, Jan 15$260-11.3%79d
Fri, Mar 19$290-1.1%142d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot295295303311319327335$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 — 295 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot2952953003103153253352222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CME open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot29529530031031532533511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot29530331131932733530%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot295300310315325335+$27K−$27K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.51-0.122950.01740.38-0.12-0.50
0.42-0.123000.01710.37-0.12-0.58
0.28-0.103100.01420.32-0.11-0.73
0.22-0.093150.01220.28-0.10-0.79
0.14-0.083250.00870.22-0.08-0.87
0.10-0.063350.00610.17-0.07-0.92

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

spot160275292.5310327.53557040
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

spot1251852502953154104K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 25K call contracts, 29K 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: CME workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk