Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:13 AM ET

CVI max pain

Spot (delayed)$58.16
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$40-31.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.9±51.4% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.5463 puts / 116 calls
Call wall$42.5largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3071.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27.5

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$55-5.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$35-39.8%54d
Fri, Jan 15$30-48.4%82d
Fri, Mar 19$32.5-44.1%145d
Thu, Jun 17$40-31.2%235d
Fri, Dec 17$40-31.2%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40253545556575$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot402532.542.555702626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CVI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot402532.542.5557044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot25354555657573%63%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 27.52532.542.55570+$663−$663
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.0132.50.00440.12-0.01-0.11
0.86-0.01350.00500.13-0.01-0.13
0.82-0.01400.00610.16-0.01-0.17
0.80-0.0142.50.00660.17-0.01-0.20
0.77-0.01450.00710.18-0.01-0.22
0.75-0.0147.50.00760.19-0.01-0.24
0.68-0.01550.00870.22-0.02-0.32
0.64-0.01600.00920.23-0.02-0.37
0.59-0.02650.00960.24-0.02-0.41
0.55-0.02700.00980.24-0.02-0.46
0.51-0.02750.00990.25-0.02-0.51

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.52537.55062.5801K0
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

spot12.52537.55062.5802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 6K 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: CVI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk