Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 3:48 AM ET

CSCO max pain

Spot (delayed)$110.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$95-14.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.48±11.3% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.068 puts / 133 calls
Call wall$107largest call OI
Put wall$93largest put OI
IV3046.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$35Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$108-2.3%3d
Fri, Nov 6$108-2.3%10d
Fri, Nov 13$110-0.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$110-0.5%24d
Fri, Nov 27$109-1.4%31d
Fri, Dec 4$95-14.0%38d
Fri, Dec 18$100-9.5%52d
Fri, Jan 15$95-14.0%80d
Fri, Mar 19$105-5.0%143d
Fri, Apr 16$110-0.5%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot958594103112121130$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 — 95 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot9585981081111211255151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CSCO open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot95859810811112112566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot859410311212113048%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 958598108111121125+$15K−$15K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.04930.01120.07-0.04-0.11
0.86-0.04950.01320.08-0.05-0.14
0.81-0.06980.01620.10-0.06-0.19
0.67-0.071050.02240.13-0.07-0.33
0.62-0.081070.02360.14-0.08-0.38
0.60-0.081080.02410.14-0.08-0.41
0.57-0.081090.02450.14-0.08-0.43
0.55-0.081100.02480.14-0.08-0.46
0.52-0.081110.02500.14-0.08-0.48
0.47-0.081130.02520.14-0.08-0.53
0.31-0.071200.02270.13-0.07-0.70
0.29-0.071210.02200.12-0.07-0.72
0.27-0.061220.02130.12-0.07-0.74
0.25-0.061230.02060.11-0.06-0.76
0.21-0.061250.01890.10-0.06-0.80

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

spot70991071151231312K0
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

spot37.562.582.510112516541K41K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 425K call contracts, 382K 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: CSCO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk