Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:43 AM ET

DGX max pain

Spot (delayed)$242.56
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$210-13.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$27.45±11.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.16207 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$300largest call OI
Put wall$240largest put OI
IV3026.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$445Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $155

Event risk before this expiration: 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$240-1.1%23d
Fri, Dec 18$230-5.2%51d
Fri, Feb 19$210-13.4%114d
Fri, May 21$200-17.5%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot210130170210250290330$8M$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot210130160185220270320621621
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DGX 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

spot21013016018522027032033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot13017021025029033059%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 155130160185220270320+$168K−$168K
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
0.95-0.011850.00230.13-0.02-0.05
0.94-0.011900.00280.16-0.02-0.06
0.92-0.021950.00350.19-0.02-0.07
0.91-0.022000.00420.23-0.03-0.09
0.85-0.032100.00600.31-0.04-0.15
0.78-0.042200.00810.40-0.05-0.22
0.69-0.052300.01010.48-0.05-0.31
0.58-0.062400.01150.53-0.06-0.42
0.47-0.062500.01190.54-0.06-0.55
0.35-0.052600.01130.51-0.05-0.66
0.26-0.042700.00980.44-0.05-0.76
0.18-0.042800.00790.36-0.04-0.85
0.13-0.032900.00610.28-0.03-0.92
0.09-0.023000.00460.22-0.03-0.98
0.06-0.023100.00330.16-0.03-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1301601852202703208310
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

spot1251551852302903501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K 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: DGX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk