Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 19, 11:06 PM ET

CVBF max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.78
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$17.5-23.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.95±17.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.32164 puts / 509 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3044.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10
Earnings · expectedThu, Oct 22usually before the open

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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 16$20-12.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-23.2%89d← 1st expiry after earnings (Thu, Oct 22)
Fri, Mar 19$22.5-1.2%180d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.581115182225$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot17.57.512.52025500500
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CVBF 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

spot17.57.512.5202511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot81115182225132%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 107.512.52025+$18K$18K
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
0.98-0.017.50.00480.01-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.01100.00850.01-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.0112.50.01430.01-0.01-0.06
0.86-0.0117.50.03950.02-0.01-0.14
0.77-0.01200.07130.03-0.01-0.23
0.54-0.0122.50.12330.04-0.01-0.46
0.29-0.01250.09450.04-0.01-0.71

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

spot7.517.52022.525305000
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

spot7.512.517.522.53040500500
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 520 call contracts, 176 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: CVBF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk