Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:18 AM ET

CRCG max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.42
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$39+214.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.7±70.0% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI3.71445 puts / 120 calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$39largest put OI
IV30161.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $18

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$14+12.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$13+4.7%54d
Fri, Mar 19$18+44.9%145d
Fri, Apr 16$39+214.0%173d
Thu, Jun 17$7-43.6%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3941118253239$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 — 39 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3941015212839378378
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CRCG open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot394101521283955
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot41118253239153%131%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 137.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 184814202631+$2K−$2K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.0140.01000.01-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.0150.01310.01-0.01-0.08
0.87-0.0160.01630.02-0.01-0.11
0.84-0.0170.01920.02-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.0180.02190.02-0.01-0.17
0.74-0.01100.02600.03-0.01-0.23
0.71-0.01110.02760.03-0.01-0.27
0.68-0.01120.02880.03-0.01-0.29
0.65-0.01130.02970.03-0.01-0.32
0.62-0.01140.03040.03-0.01-0.35
0.59-0.01150.03090.03-0.01-0.38
0.57-0.01160.03120.03-0.01-0.40
0.55-0.01170.03140.03-0.01-0.42
0.53-0.01180.03150.03-0.01-0.44
0.49-0.01200.03140.03-0.01-0.48

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot110182634502780
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

spot1917253345378378
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 3K 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: CRCG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk