Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:00 AM ET

CNX max pain

Spot (delayed)$36.54
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$32-12.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.88±10.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.511K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$32largest put OI
IV3035.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$42Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$32-12.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$32-12.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$32-12.4%81d
Fri, Apr 16$34-7.0%172d
Fri, Dec 17$30-17.9%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32152433425160$4M$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 — 32 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot32152532374255646646
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CNX 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

spot3215253237425577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot152433425160114%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 20152532374255+$36K−$36K
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
0.98-0.00230.00480.01-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.00250.00800.01-0.00-0.03
0.94-0.01280.01700.02-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01300.02790.03-0.01-0.10
0.83-0.01320.04390.04-0.01-0.16
0.66-0.02350.07100.05-0.02-0.34
0.59-0.02360.07650.06-0.02-0.41
0.51-0.02370.07860.06-0.02-0.49
0.43-0.02380.07710.06-0.02-0.57
0.30-0.02400.06640.05-0.02-0.70
0.21-0.01420.05220.04-0.01-0.80
0.12-0.01450.03390.03-0.01-0.89
0.05-0.01500.01640.02-0.01-0.97
0.03-0.00550.00840.01-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00600.00460.010.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 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

spot1528333741455610
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

spot152631364147711711
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 2K 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: CNX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk