Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 1:58 AM ET

DEFT max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.41
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$0.5+20.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.37±89.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.017 puts / 939 calls
Call wall$0.5largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV30123.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$179per 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$0.5+20.9%28d
Fri, Dec 18$0.5+20.9%56d
Fri, Jan 15$0.5+20.9%84d
Fri, Feb 19$0.5+20.9%119d
Fri, May 21$0.5+20.9%210d
Fri, Jan 21$0.5+20.9%455d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot0.5112334$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 — 0.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot0.50.511.5234507507
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DEFT 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

spot0.50.511.523411
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot112334459%153%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 233.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot0.511.5+$113−$113
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
0.590.000.51.31010.000.00-0.45
0.36-0.0010.95380.00-0.00-0.69
0.29-0.001.50.75620.000.00-0.77
0.25-0.0020.64810.000.00-0.81
0.21-0.0030.53020.000.00-0.86
0.19-0.0040.46470.000.00-0.90

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

spot0.51.53510K0
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

spot0.51.53519K19K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 72K call contracts, 4K 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: DEFT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk