Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 1:37 AM ET

DAN max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.05
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$30+3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.78±16.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.3844 puts / 116 calls
Call wall$31largest call OI
Put wall$28largest put OI
IV3054.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $31

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$29-0.2%30d
Fri, Dec 18$30+3.3%58d
Fri, Jan 15$30+3.3%86d
Fri, Feb 19$29-0.2%121d
Fri, Mar 19$30+3.3%149d
Thu, Jun 17$35+20.5%239d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot30152229364350$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 — 30 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3015222832366666
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DAN 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

spot30152228323611
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot152229364350164%39%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 311522283236+$3K−$3K
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
0.92-0.01190.01610.02-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.01200.01910.02-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.01220.02710.03-0.01-0.13
0.77-0.02250.04450.04-0.02-0.23
0.72-0.02260.05130.04-0.02-0.28
0.67-0.02270.05780.04-0.02-0.33
0.60-0.02280.06290.04-0.02-0.39
0.54-0.02290.06560.05-0.02-0.46
0.48-0.02300.06560.05-0.02-0.52
0.42-0.02310.06330.04-0.02-0.58
0.36-0.02320.05960.04-0.02-0.63
0.32-0.02330.05510.04-0.02-0.68
0.28-0.02340.05060.04-0.02-0.72
0.25-0.02350.04610.04-0.02-0.75
0.22-0.02360.04200.03-0.02-0.78

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1325293337501K0
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

spot1021273339452K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 5K 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: DAN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk