Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:04 AM ET

CVLT max pain

Spot (delayed)$169.37
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$145-14.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$43.95±25.9% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.3156 puts / 180 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3064.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$25Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

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$150-11.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$105-38.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$155-8.5%81d
Fri, Mar 19$145-14.4%144d
Fri, Apr 16$155-8.5%172d
Thu, Jun 17$95-43.9%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14575104133162191220$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 — 145 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot145751201501701902203535
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CVLT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot1457512015017019022022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot7510413316219122080%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 13075120155175195+$5K−$5K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.051250.00370.24-0.05-0.14
0.83-0.051300.00410.27-0.05-0.17
0.75-0.061450.00540.34-0.06-0.25
0.72-0.071500.00580.36-0.07-0.29
0.68-0.071550.00620.38-0.07-0.32
0.65-0.071600.00650.40-0.07-0.35
0.61-0.071650.00680.41-0.07-0.39
0.58-0.071700.00700.42-0.08-0.42
0.55-0.071750.00710.42-0.08-0.46
0.51-0.071800.00720.43-0.08-0.50
0.48-0.071850.00720.43-0.08-0.53
0.44-0.071900.00720.42-0.08-0.57
0.41-0.071950.00720.42-0.07-0.60
0.38-0.072000.00700.41-0.07-0.64
0.32-0.062100.00670.38-0.07-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4077.597.51351752303450
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

spot4072.595135180250420420
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 1K 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: CVLT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk