Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 12:24 AM ET

D max pain

Spot (delayed)$62.3
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$62.5+0.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.08±11.4% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.00431 puts / 432 calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$62.5largest put OI
IV3020.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 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 16$62.5+0.3%2d
Fri, Nov 20$62.5+0.3%37d
Fri, Dec 18$67.5+8.3%65d
Fri, Jan 15$62.5+0.3%93d
Fri, Mar 19$65+4.3%156d
Fri, Apr 16$62.5+0.3%184d
Thu, Jun 17$70+12.4%246d
Fri, Sep 17$57.5-7.7%338d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot62.5404958677685$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 — 62.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot62.5405562.57080303303
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)D 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

spot62.5405562.570801010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot40495867768540%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 20.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot405562.57080+$45K−$45K
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
0.98—400.00410.02-0.00-0.04
0.97—42.50.00590.03-0.00-0.05
0.90-0.00500.01540.07-0.01-0.12
0.81-0.01550.02690.12-0.01-0.21
0.74-0.0157.50.03450.14-0.01-0.28
0.65-0.01600.04180.16-0.01-0.38
0.54-0.0162.50.04640.17-0.01-0.48
0.43-0.01650.04640.17-0.01-0.60
0.32-0.0167.50.04210.16-0.01-0.70
0.24-0.01700.03560.14-0.01-0.78
0.18-0.0172.50.02900.12-0.00-0.84
0.14-0.01750.02340.10-0.00-0.89
0.09-0.00800.01510.070.00-0.94
0.06-0.00850.01010.05—-0.97

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

spot47.557.56572.580959K0
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

spot27.54052.56577.510011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 48K call contracts, 21K 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: D workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk