Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:13 PM ET

DASH max pain

Spot (delayed)$176.88
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$170-3.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$27.88±15.8% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.672 puts / 3 calls
Call wall$210largest call OI
Put wall$135largest put OI
IV3064.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$282per 1% move · flip ≈ $215

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$185+4.6%4d
Fri, Nov 6$190+7.4%11d
Fri, Nov 13$200+13.1%18d
Fri, Nov 20$180+1.8%25d
Fri, Nov 27$185+4.6%32d
Fri, Dec 4$170-3.9%39d
Fri, Dec 18$175-1.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$195+10.2%81d
Fri, Feb 19$190+7.4%116d
Fri, Mar 19$175-1.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot170135152169186203220$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot17013517021021522011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DASH open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot17013517021021522011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot13515216918620322067%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 215135170210215220+$335−$335
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.071350.00400.09-0.07-0.08
0.63-0.171700.01060.22-0.17-0.38
0.23-0.132100.00870.18-0.13-0.78
0.19-0.122150.00790.16-0.12-0.82
0.16-0.112200.00710.14-0.11-0.85

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

spot110162.5182.5202.52252655540
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

spot7013017021029037020K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 101K call contracts, 65K 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: DASH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk