Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:37 AM ET

EZPW max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.35
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$20-31.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.13±24.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.12239 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3053.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$27Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$32.5+10.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-23.3%54d
Fri, Mar 19$20-31.9%145d
Thu, Jun 17$22.5-23.3%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20182431374450$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2017.52532.540501K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EZPW 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

spot2017.52532.540501515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot18243137445059%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 2017.52532.54050+$16K−$16K
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
0.93-0.0117.50.01150.02-0.01-0.07
0.89-0.01200.01800.03-0.01-0.11
0.83-0.0122.50.02640.05-0.01-0.17
0.74-0.01250.03510.06-0.01-0.26
0.64-0.0127.50.04180.07-0.01-0.37
0.53-0.01300.04470.07-0.01-0.48
0.43-0.0132.50.04370.07-0.01-0.59
0.34-0.01350.04040.07-0.01-0.68
0.28-0.0137.50.03580.06-0.01-0.75
0.22-0.01400.03110.05-0.01-0.82
0.14-0.01450.02270.04-0.01-0.91
0.12-0.0147.50.01920.04-0.01-0.94
0.09-0.01500.01630.03-0.01-0.96

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

spot2.5152535452K0
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

spot2.512.522.532.542.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 1K 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: EZPW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk