Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:31 AM ET

DFH max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.25
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$10-2.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.08±39.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.27655 puts / 515 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3071.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$5-51.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-26.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+22.0%81d
Fri, Apr 16$10-2.4%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot105913172125$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot105101520315315
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DFH 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

spot10510152022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot5913172125111%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 7.55101520+$2K−$2K
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
0.91-0.0050.02180.01-0.00-0.09
0.79-0.007.50.04760.02-0.01-0.20
0.62-0.01100.07510.03-0.01-0.37
0.43-0.0112.50.08040.03-0.01-0.56
0.30-0.01150.06860.03-0.01-0.70
0.22-0.0017.50.05560.02-0.01-0.78
0.18-0.00200.04540.02-0.00-0.83
0.12-0.00250.03240.01-0.00-0.90

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K0
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

spot2.51017.52532.53K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 1K 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: DFH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk