Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:33 AM ET

EWTX max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.31
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$44+11.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.68±22.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.02119 puts / 5K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$42largest put OI
IV3075.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$222Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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+1.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$44+11.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$44+11.9%81d
Fri, Feb 19$31-21.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$47+19.6%144d
Fri, May 21$41+4.3%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot44213141506070$10M$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 — 44 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot442127324045555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EWTX 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

spot442127324045552828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot213141506070156%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 50212732404555+$223K−$223K
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
0.84-0.03300.01870.04-0.03-0.16
0.82-0.03310.02080.04-0.03-0.18
0.80-0.03320.02300.04-0.03-0.20
0.77-0.03330.02520.05-0.03-0.23
0.71-0.04350.02940.05-0.04-0.29
0.65-0.04370.03300.06-0.04-0.35
0.61-0.04380.03450.06-0.04-0.39
0.54-0.04400.03640.06-0.04-0.46
0.50-0.04410.03680.06-0.04-0.50
0.47-0.04420.03680.06-0.04-0.54
0.43-0.04430.03650.06-0.04-0.57
0.40-0.04440.03590.06-0.04-0.60
0.37-0.04450.03500.06-0.04-0.64
0.34-0.04460.03390.06-0.04-0.67
0.29-0.03480.03130.05-0.03-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1528354045505K0
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

spot1525313743495K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 6K 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: EWTX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk