Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 10:03 AM ET

DG max pain

Spot (delayed)$127.49
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$115-9.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.78±13.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.746K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3036.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$812Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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 30$129+1.2%3d
Fri, Nov 6$127-0.4%10d
Fri, Nov 13$128+0.4%17d
Fri, Nov 20$125-2.0%24d
Fri, Nov 27$130+2.0%31d
Fri, Dec 4$130+2.0%38d
Fri, Dec 18$115-9.8%52d
Fri, Jan 15$115-9.8%80d
Fri, Feb 19$125-2.0%115d
Fri, Mar 19$130+2.0%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1155086122158194230$67M$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot11550801101401702001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DG 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

spot1155080110140170200445445
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5086122158194230156%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1105585115145175210+$306K−$306K
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
0.97-0.01900.00250.03-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.02950.00380.05-0.02-0.04
0.93-0.031000.00570.07-0.03-0.07
0.89-0.041050.00800.09-0.04-0.11
0.84-0.051100.01080.12-0.05-0.16
0.78-0.061150.01370.15-0.06-0.22
0.70-0.071200.01640.17-0.07-0.30
0.61-0.071250.01830.19-0.07-0.39
0.51-0.081300.01920.20-0.08-0.49
0.42-0.071350.01880.19-0.07-0.58
0.34-0.071400.01760.18-0.07-0.67
0.26-0.061450.01560.16-0.06-0.74
0.20-0.051500.01330.14-0.05-0.81
0.15-0.051550.01110.12-0.04-0.86
0.11-0.041600.00900.10-0.04-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot751121211301391485410
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

spot351001171301431705K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 44K 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: DG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk