Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:06 AM ET

DNUT max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.85
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$1.5-47.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.1±38.6% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.09151 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$3.5largest call OI
Put wall$1.5largest put OI
IV3074.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $1.5

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, Oct 30$3+5.3%4d
Fri, Nov 6$3+5.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$3+5.3%18d
Fri, Nov 20$3.5+22.8%25d
Fri, Nov 27$3+5.3%32d
Fri, Dec 4$3+5.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$3+5.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$4+40.4%81d
Fri, Feb 19$3.5+22.8%116d
Fri, Mar 19$1.5-47.4%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1.5123568$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 — 1.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1.50.51.52.53.54.55.5619619
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DNUT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot1.50.51.52.53.54.55.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot123568226%55%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 1.50.51.52.53.54.55.5+$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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.000.50.01490.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0010.04220.00-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.001.50.09060.00-0.00-0.10
0.83-0.0020.17370.01-0.00-0.17
0.70-0.002.50.28590.01-0.00-0.30
0.54-0.0030.34680.01-0.00-0.47
0.40-0.003.50.32270.01-0.00-0.61
0.31-0.0040.27460.01-0.00-0.71
0.25-0.004.50.23110.01-0.00-0.78
0.20-0.0050.19610.01-0.00-0.82
0.17-0.005.50.16860.01-0.00-0.86
0.10-0.007.50.10260.00-0.00-0.95

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

spot0.523.557950
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

spot0.52.54.57.517.511K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 46K call contracts, 24K 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: DNUT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk