Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 12:20 AM ET

CPRI max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.87
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$15-5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.05±19.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.423K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3069.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $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, Nov 20$15-5.5%27d
Fri, Dec 18$15-5.5%55d
Fri, Jan 15$15-5.5%83d
Fri, Feb 19$12.5-21.2%118d
Fri, May 21$16+0.8%209d
Fri, Dec 17$25+57.5%419d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1531426374960$19M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot152.514203042.5551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CPRI 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

spot152.514203042.55588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot31426374960218%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 52.514203042.555+$11K−$11K
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
0.99-0.002.50.00120.00-0.00-0.01
0.99-0.0050.00310.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.007.50.00710.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.00100.01890.01-0.00-0.04
0.86-0.0112.50.05380.01-0.01-0.14
0.75-0.01140.08080.02-0.01-0.25
0.65-0.01150.09400.02-0.01-0.35
0.55-0.01160.10090.03-0.01-0.45
0.41-0.0117.50.09910.02-0.01-0.60
0.29-0.01190.08660.02-0.01-0.72
0.22-0.01200.07520.02-0.01-0.79
0.17-0.01210.06350.02-0.01-0.84
0.11-0.0122.50.04760.01-0.01-0.90
0.07-0.01250.03010.01-0.01-0.95
0.05-0.0027.50.02120.01-0.01-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot112.52027.54052.516K0
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

spot17.516253552.517K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 60K call contracts, 25K 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: CPRI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk