Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:19 AM ET

CYTK max pain

Spot (delayed)$61.23
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$55-10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.45±25.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.1032 puts / 324 calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$70largest put OI
IV3050.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$16Kper 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, Nov 20$70+14.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$70+14.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$40-34.7%82d
Fri, Feb 19$55-10.2%117d
Fri, May 21$60-2.0%208d
Fri, Jan 21$75+22.5%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot5540577491108125$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot55405570851001258787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CYTK open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot554055708510012511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot4057749110812581%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot40557085100125+$6K−$6K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01400.00660.05-0.01-0.08
0.87-0.02450.01020.07-0.02-0.13
0.80-0.02500.01410.10-0.02-0.20
0.71-0.03550.01760.12-0.03-0.30
0.61-0.03600.01990.14-0.03-0.40
0.51-0.03650.02080.14-0.03-0.50
0.42-0.03700.02020.14-0.03-0.60
0.34-0.03750.01870.13-0.03-0.68
0.27-0.03800.01670.12-0.03-0.75
0.22-0.03850.01460.10-0.03-0.81
0.17-0.02900.01260.09-0.03-0.86
0.14-0.02950.01080.08-0.02-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.5356072.59512019K0
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

spot17.53550658511530K30K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 70K call contracts, 12K 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: CYTK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk