Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 12:19 AM ET

CNQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.32
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$45-18.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.7±15.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.40516 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3032.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$82Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $37.5

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$53-4.2%6d
Fri, Nov 6$51-7.8%13d
Fri, Nov 13$50-9.6%20d
Fri, Nov 20$52.5-5.1%27d
Fri, Nov 27$52-6.0%34d
Fri, Dec 4$47-15.0%41d
Fri, Dec 18$47.5-14.1%55d
Fri, Jan 15$35-36.7%83d
Fri, Mar 19$45-18.7%146d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45253545556575$3M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot45253542.55057.570268268
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CNQ open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot45253542.55057.570125125
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot25354555657555%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 37.5253542.55057.570+$30K−$30K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0037.50.00630.03-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.01400.00930.04-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.0142.50.01350.06-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01450.01870.07-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.0147.50.02440.09-0.01-0.20
0.74-0.01500.02990.11-0.01-0.28
0.65-0.0152.50.03420.13-0.01-0.36
0.56-0.01550.03670.14-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.0157.50.03720.14-0.01-0.55
0.39-0.01600.03580.13-0.01-0.63
0.24-0.01650.02920.11-0.01-0.78
0.15-0.01700.02100.08-0.01-0.88
0.09-0.01750.01400.05-0.01-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot38464953576540
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

spot15374448.55562.518K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 94K call contracts, 33K 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: CNQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk