Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 1:46 PM ET

FAST max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.02
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$47.5-3.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.28±8.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.395K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$57.5largest call OI
Put wall$47.5largest put OI
IV3035.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$899Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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 16$50+2.0%2d
Fri, Nov 20$50+2.0%37d
Fri, Dec 18$47.5-3.1%65d
Fri, Jan 15$45-8.2%93d
Fri, Feb 19$50+2.0%128d
Fri, Mar 19$50+2.0%156d
Fri, May 21$47.5-3.1%219d
Thu, Jun 17$50+2.0%246d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot47.5193041536475$28M$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 — 47.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot47.518.752533.754046.2557.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FAST 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

spot47.518.752533.754046.2557.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot28374756667591%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 3018.752533.754046.2557.5+$322K−$322K
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
0.92-0.01400.02520.03-0.01-0.10
0.89-0.0141.250.03180.04-0.01-0.13
0.86-0.0142.50.03940.05-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.0243.750.04710.05-0.01-0.20
0.75-0.02450.05450.06-0.02-0.26
0.68-0.0246.250.06080.07-0.02-0.32
0.60-0.0247.50.06510.08-0.02-0.40
0.43-0.02500.06590.08-0.02-0.56
0.29-0.0252.50.05610.07-0.01-0.70
0.19-0.01550.04260.06-0.01-0.80
0.12-0.0157.50.03060.04-0.01-0.87
0.08-0.01600.02160.03-0.01-0.92
0.04-0.01650.01080.02-0.00-0.96
0.02-0.00700.00560.010.00-0.98
0.01-0.00750.00300.01—-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot18.7533.75404552.56512K0
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

spot17.5253542.552.57516K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 60K call contracts, 40K 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: FAST workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk