Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 5:30 AM ET

DSP max pain

Spot (delayed)$13.81
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$10-27.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.9±35.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.0852 puts / 693 calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3070.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move

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$12.5-9.5%24d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-9.5%80d
Fri, Apr 16$10-27.6%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot105913172125$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10510152025564564
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DSP open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot1051015202544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot5913172125103%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot510152025+$6K−$6K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0050.00990.01-0.00-0.04
0.90-0.007.50.02140.01-0.00-0.09
0.81-0.01100.03950.03-0.01-0.18
0.66-0.0112.50.06020.03-0.01-0.32
0.49-0.01150.07120.04-0.01-0.49
0.34-0.0117.50.06660.03-0.01-0.65
0.23-0.01200.05460.03-0.00-0.76
0.16-0.0022.50.04270.02-0.00-0.84
0.12-0.00250.03320.02-0.00-0.89

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.527.52K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.527.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 874 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: DSP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk