Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:36 AM ET

ENSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$175.59
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$165-6.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.1±9.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.12244 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$195largest call OI
Put wall$165largest put OI
IV3034.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$747Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $130

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$170-3.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$165-6.0%54d
Fri, Mar 19$190+8.2%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot16595128161194227260$14M$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 — 165 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot165951201451701952402K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ENSG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot1659512014517019524066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot9512816119422726095%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 13095120150175200250+$682K−$682K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.041400.00480.11-0.04-0.09
0.89-0.051450.00610.13-0.05-0.11
0.87-0.051500.00760.15-0.05-0.13
0.83-0.061550.00960.17-0.06-0.17
0.79-0.061600.01190.20-0.06-0.22
0.73-0.071650.01450.23-0.07-0.28
0.65-0.071700.01710.26-0.07-0.35
0.56-0.071750.01910.27-0.07-0.45
0.46-0.071800.01970.27-0.07-0.55
0.37-0.071850.01880.26-0.07-0.64
0.29-0.061900.01670.24-0.07-0.73
0.23-0.061950.01430.21-0.06-0.79
0.18-0.052000.01190.18-0.06-0.84
0.12-0.042100.00820.14-0.05-0.91
0.08-0.032200.00580.11-0.04-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot951251501752002502K0
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

spot951251551852302902K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 632 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: ENSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk