Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:06 PM ET

EXC max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.41
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$43-3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.78±10.8% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.89974 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3019.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$37Kper 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$43-3.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$44-0.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$44-0.9%81d
Fri, Mar 19$43-3.2%144d
Fri, Apr 16$44-0.9%172d
Thu, Jun 17$43-3.2%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot43283645536270$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 — 43 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot432835435065378378
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EXC open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot4328354350654040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot28364553627041%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 21.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 502835435065+$33K−$33K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.980.00280.00450.01-0.00-0.03
0.97-0.00300.00670.02-0.00-0.04
0.95-0.00330.01210.03-0.00-0.06
0.93-0.00350.01780.04-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.01380.03100.06-0.01-0.16
0.80-0.01400.04340.08-0.01-0.23
0.65-0.01430.06400.10-0.01-0.38
0.51-0.01450.07230.11-0.01-0.52
0.37-0.01470.07010.10-0.01-0.66
0.20-0.01500.05190.08-0.01-0.85
0.07-0.00550.02350.04-0.00-0.98
0.03-0.00600.01080.02—-1.00
0.02-0.00650.00540.01—-1.00
0.01-0.00700.00300.01—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot25384347555K0
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

spot2033384348655K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K 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: EXC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk