Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:22 AM ET

DRNZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.44
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$17+3.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.78±23.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.31426 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$16largest put OI
IV3046.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $29

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$19+15.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$20+21.6%54d
Fri, Mar 19$17+3.4%145d
Thu, Jun 17$17+3.4%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17111519232731$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot17111519232731870870
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DRNZ 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

spot171115192327314848
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot11151923273180%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 29111519232731+$5K−$5K
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
0.89-0.01110.03360.02-0.00-0.11
0.85-0.01120.04270.02-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01130.05300.03-0.01-0.20
0.73-0.01140.06370.03-0.01-0.26
0.66-0.01150.07340.04-0.01-0.33
0.58-0.01160.08030.04-0.01-0.41
0.49-0.01170.08300.04-0.01-0.49
0.42-0.01180.08130.04-0.01-0.56
0.35-0.01190.07640.04-0.01-0.63
0.29-0.01200.06960.04-0.01-0.69
0.24-0.01210.06230.03-0.01-0.73
0.20-0.01220.05530.03-0.01-0.77
0.17-0.00230.04880.03-0.01-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1117212529341K0
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

spot813182328331K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: DRNZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk