Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:03 PM ET

CPRT max pain

Spot (delayed)$28.86
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$32.5+12.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.6±15.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI2.152K puts / 913 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3037.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$40Kper 1% move

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$25-13.4%24d
Fri, Dec 18$30+4.0%52d
Fri, Jan 15$30+4.0%80d
Fri, Feb 19$32.5+12.6%115d
Fri, Mar 19$30+4.0%143d
Fri, May 21$22.5-22.0%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32.5152228354148$2M$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 — 32.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot32.51522.53037.545426426
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CPRT open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot32.51522.53037.54522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot15222835414863%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot1522.53037.545+$17K−$17K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98—150.00380.01-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0017.50.00790.01-0.00-0.03
0.94-0.00200.01520.02-0.00-0.06
0.89-0.0122.50.02730.03-0.01-0.11
0.80-0.01250.04430.05-0.01-0.21
0.66-0.0127.50.06140.06-0.01-0.35
0.49-0.01300.06910.07-0.01-0.52
0.34-0.0132.50.06350.06-0.01-0.69
0.22-0.01350.05050.05-0.01-0.81
0.14-0.0137.50.03730.04-0.01-0.90
0.10-0.01400.02680.03-0.01-0.96
0.07-0.0042.50.01930.02-0.00-0.99
0.05-0.00450.01400.02-0.00-1.00
0.03-0.0047.50.01040.01-0.00-1.00

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

spot1527.54052.5658014K0
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

spot1527.54052.5658017K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 94K call contracts, 38K 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: CPRT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk