Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:30 AM ET

ELV max pain

Spot (delayed)$439.95
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$460+4.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$109.5±24.9% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI1.21146 puts / 121 calls
Call wall$490largest call OI
Put wall$350largest put OI
IV3029.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $300

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$420-4.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$400-9.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$370-15.9%82d
Fri, Mar 19$400-9.1%145d
Thu, Jun 17$410-6.8%235d
Fri, Sep 17$460+4.6%327d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot460220300380460540620$2M$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 — 460 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot4602203403904505006203838
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ELV open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 17

spot46022034039045050062022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot22030038046054062047%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spotflip 300220340390450500620+$22K−$22K
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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.053600.00191.14-0.06-0.20
0.79-0.063700.00201.21-0.07-0.22
0.76-0.063800.00221.28-0.07-0.25
0.74-0.063900.00231.35-0.07-0.27
0.71-0.074000.00241.40-0.07-0.30
0.69-0.074100.00261.47-0.08-0.33
0.66-0.074200.00261.51-0.08-0.36
0.63-0.074300.00281.56-0.08-0.39
0.58-0.084500.00291.61-0.08-0.45
0.55-0.084600.00291.63-0.09-0.48
0.52-0.084700.00301.64-0.09-0.51
0.49-0.084800.00301.64-0.09-0.54
0.47-0.084900.00301.64-0.09-0.57
0.44-0.085000.00301.63-0.09-0.60
0.39-0.075200.00291.58-0.08-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1602403304205106001K0
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

spot1402003204405606802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 13K 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: ELV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk