Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 12:40 AM ET

DLTR max pain

Spot (delayed)$124.92
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$120-3.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.58±13.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.784K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$140largest call OI
Put wall$100largest put OI
IV3040.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$352Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $140

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$121-3.1%3d
Fri, Nov 6$115-7.9%10d
Fri, Nov 13$128+2.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$115-7.9%24d
Fri, Nov 27$111-11.1%31d
Fri, Dec 4$118-5.5%38d
Fri, Dec 18$120-3.9%52d
Fri, Jan 15$100-19.9%80d
Fri, Feb 19$125+0.1%115d
Fri, Mar 19$130+4.1%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1205079108137166195$27M$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot12050751001251501751K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DLTR 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

spot120507510012515017599
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5079108137166195147%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1405075100125150175+$274K−$274K
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
0.97-0.01900.00300.04-0.02-0.03
0.95-0.02950.00460.05-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.031000.00690.07-0.03-0.08
0.87-0.041050.00980.10-0.04-0.13
0.81-0.051100.01280.13-0.06-0.19
0.73-0.061150.01580.16-0.07-0.27
0.64-0.071200.01820.18-0.07-0.36
0.55-0.071250.01940.19-0.08-0.46
0.45-0.071300.01940.19-0.08-0.56
0.36-0.071350.01840.18-0.07-0.65
0.28-0.061400.01660.16-0.07-0.73
0.21-0.061450.01430.14-0.06-0.80
0.16-0.051500.01190.12-0.05-0.86
0.12-0.041550.00960.09-0.04-0.91
0.09-0.031600.00750.07-0.03-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot651031121211301402580
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

spot351001131261391558K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 41K call contracts, 29K 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: DLTR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk