Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:28 AM ET

DYN max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.62
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$20+28.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.6±67.9% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI1.172K puts / 1K calls
Call wall$17largest call OI
Put wall$17largest put OI
IV3065.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$15-4.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5+44.0%54d
Fri, Jan 15$20+28.0%82d
Fri, Mar 19$10-36.0%145d
Thu, Jun 17$18+15.2%235d
Fri, Dec 17$20+28.0%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2051117232935$3M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot20513202735479479
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DYN open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot20513202735349349
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot51117232935163%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 25513202735+$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, Dec 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.950.0050.00610.02-0.00-0.05
0.89-0.0080.01180.03-0.00-0.11
0.84-0.00100.01570.04-0.00-0.16
0.76-0.00130.02090.05-0.01-0.24
0.71-0.01150.02360.06-0.01-0.29
0.66-0.01170.02580.06-0.01-0.35
0.59-0.01200.02790.07-0.01-0.43
0.55-0.01220.02870.07-0.01-0.48
0.48-0.01250.02910.07-0.01-0.55
0.45-0.01270.02890.07-0.01-0.59
0.40-0.01300.02830.07-0.01-0.65
0.37-0.01320.02770.06-0.01-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.517.5222713K0
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

spot2.5101622283529K29K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 92K call contracts, 14K 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: DYN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk