Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:58 AM ET

CMPR max pain

Spot (delayed)$80.41
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65-19.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.4±17.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.2841 puts / 32 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3057.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$970per 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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$85+5.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$65-19.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$100+24.4%81d
Fri, Apr 16$55-31.6%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65355983107131155$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6535558511013515599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CMPR 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

spot6535558511013515511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot355983107131155151%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 95355585110135155+$420−$420
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
0.98-0.01350.00130.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.02400.00190.02-0.02-0.03
0.96-0.02450.00280.03-0.02-0.04
0.94-0.03500.00410.04-0.03-0.06
0.92-0.03550.00600.05-0.03-0.08
0.89-0.04600.00860.06-0.04-0.11
0.84-0.04650.01200.08-0.04-0.16
0.56-0.06800.02360.12-0.06-0.44
0.44-0.06850.02400.12-0.06-0.56
0.34-0.05900.02180.12-0.06-0.66
0.26-0.05950.01870.10-0.05-0.74
0.16-0.041050.01280.08-0.04-0.85
0.13-0.041100.01060.07-0.04-0.88
0.11-0.031150.00890.06-0.04-0.91
0.09-0.031200.00750.05-0.03-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot456590110130145150
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

spot3560851101353535
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 94 call contracts, 174 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: CMPR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk