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

CSCO max pain

Spot (delayed)$110.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$110-0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23±20.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI2.456K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$90largest put OI
IV3046.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$353Kper 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, 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

spot1106082104126148170$21M$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 — 110 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot11060801001201401602K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CSCO 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

spot1106080100120140160158158
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot608210412614817046%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot6080100120140160+$178K−$178K
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
0.94-0.01750.00380.09-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01800.00530.12-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.01850.00690.16-0.02-0.13
0.82-0.02900.00850.19-0.02-0.18
0.77-0.02950.01020.23-0.03-0.23
0.71-0.031000.01160.26-0.03-0.29
0.65-0.031050.01280.28-0.03-0.36
0.58-0.031100.01360.29-0.03-0.43
0.51-0.031150.01400.30-0.03-0.50
0.45-0.031200.01400.30-0.03-0.57
0.38-0.031250.01350.29-0.03-0.63
0.33-0.031300.01280.27-0.03-0.69
0.28-0.031350.01190.25-0.03-0.75
0.23-0.021400.01080.23-0.02-0.80
0.19-0.021450.00960.20-0.02-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 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