Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:27 PM ET

ETOR max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.56
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$25+6.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.7±28.4% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.13409 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3055.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$68Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$25+6.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$30+27.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$35+48.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$30+27.3%116d
Fri, Mar 19$30+27.3%144d
Fri, Apr 16$25+6.1%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25152025303540$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot251522.52629352K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ETOR open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot251522.526293511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot15202530354066%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 17.51522.5262935+$53K−$53K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.00150.01620.03-0.00-0.09
0.85-0.0117.50.02560.04-0.01-0.15
0.76-0.01200.03570.05-0.01-0.25
0.66-0.0122.50.04350.06-0.01-0.36
0.59-0.01240.04620.06-0.01-0.43
0.54-0.01250.04720.07-0.01-0.48
0.50-0.01260.04740.07-0.01-0.53
0.46-0.01270.04700.07-0.01-0.57
0.42-0.01280.04610.06-0.01-0.61
0.38-0.01290.04470.06-0.01-0.65
0.35-0.01300.04310.06-0.01-0.69
0.29-0.01320.03930.06-0.01-0.75

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot15242835556K0
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

spot1521263035557K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 43K call contracts, 11K 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: ETOR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk