Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 1:50 AM ET

DXC max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.4
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$10-35.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.9±51.3% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.491K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$17largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3075.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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$12-22.1%30d
Fri, Dec 18$10-35.1%58d
Fri, Jan 15$10-35.1%86d
Fri, Mar 19$8-48.1%149d
Thu, Jun 17$15-2.6%239d
Fri, Jan 21$10-35.1%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103814192530$4M$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, Jan 21

spot103812172230694694
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DXC open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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, Jan 21

spot1038121722303K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3814192530139%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 153812172230+$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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97—30.00370.01-0.00-0.02
0.950.0050.00730.02-0.00-0.04
0.88-0.0080.01520.03-0.00-0.10
0.83-0.00100.02170.04-0.00-0.16
0.76-0.00120.02830.05-0.00-0.22
0.65-0.00150.03650.06-0.00-0.34
0.57-0.00170.04000.07-0.00-0.42
0.46-0.00200.04190.07-0.00-0.55
0.39-0.00220.04130.07-0.00-0.62
0.31-0.00250.03850.06-0.00-0.73
0.20-0.00300.03150.05-0.00-0.87

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

spot38121620305K0
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

spot16111621325K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 5K 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: DXC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk