Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:24 PM ET

EXE max pain

Spot (delayed)$92.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$75-18.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15±16.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.12238 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$75largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3032.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$170Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $75

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, Oct 30$91-1.6%4d
Fri, Nov 6$89-3.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$90-2.7%18d
Fri, Nov 20$85-8.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$88-4.9%32d
Fri, Dec 4$95+2.7%39d
Fri, Dec 18$95+2.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$90-2.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$90-2.7%116d
Fri, Mar 19$90-2.7%144d
Fri, Apr 16$75-18.9%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot75657891104117130$7M$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 — 75 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot75658092.51001151301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EXE 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

spot75658092.510011513011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot65789110411713039%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 75658092.5100115130+$90K−$90K
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
0.95-0.00650.00490.07-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01700.00760.10-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.01750.01080.14-0.01-0.14
0.79-0.01800.01430.18-0.02-0.22
0.70-0.02850.01740.22-0.02-0.30
0.61-0.02900.01940.24-0.02-0.40
0.56-0.0292.50.01990.25-0.02-0.45
0.51-0.02950.02000.25-0.02-0.50
0.46-0.0297.50.01990.25-0.02-0.55
0.41-0.021000.01950.24-0.02-0.59
0.33-0.021050.01800.23-0.02-0.68
0.27-0.021100.01600.21-0.02-0.76
0.21-0.021150.01380.18-0.02-0.82
0.16-0.011200.01170.16-0.01-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot808590951001055890
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

spot4074849410514529K29K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 88K call contracts, 68K 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: EXE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk