Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:32 AM ET

ELVN max pain

Spot (delayed)$42
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$45+7.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.18±19.5% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.07557 puts / 520 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3054.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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$40-4.8%26d
Fri, Dec 18$30-28.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$45+7.1%82d
Fri, Mar 19$20-52.4%145d
Thu, Jun 17$20-52.4%235d
Fri, Dec 17$17.5-58.3%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45153045607590$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot451522.535506580260260
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ELVN open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot451522.53550658011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot153045607590111%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 451522.540557090+$14K−$14K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.01150.00270.02-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.0117.50.00360.02-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01200.00470.02-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.0122.50.00620.03-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.02250.00820.03-0.02-0.08
0.87-0.02300.01460.04-0.02-0.13
0.78-0.02350.02550.06-0.02-0.22
0.62-0.02400.03680.08-0.02-0.38
0.44-0.03450.03640.08-0.03-0.56
0.32-0.03500.02990.07-0.03-0.69
0.24-0.02550.02370.06-0.03-0.77
0.18-0.02600.01900.05-0.02-0.83
0.15-0.02650.01540.05-0.02-0.87
0.12-0.02700.01270.04-0.02-0.90
0.10-0.02750.01060.03-0.02-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot517.5305070903390
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

spot2.512.522.5406080730730
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 2K 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: ELVN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk