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

FAST max pain

Spot (delayed)$49.02
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$50+2.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.3±12.9% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.40999 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3035.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$202Kper 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, 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

spot50233242516170$5M$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot5022.53037.54552.5601K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FAST 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

spot5022.53037.54552.56011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot23324251617092%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 5022.53037.54552.560+$138K−$138K
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
0.960.0032.50.00730.03-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.00350.01040.04-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.0037.50.01530.05-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.01400.02180.07-0.01-0.14
0.80-0.0142.50.02950.09-0.01-0.20
0.71-0.01450.03730.11-0.01-0.29
0.61-0.0147.50.04320.12-0.01-0.40
0.50-0.01500.04580.13-0.01-0.51
0.39-0.0152.50.04440.12-0.01-0.62
0.29-0.01550.03990.11-0.01-0.72
0.21-0.0157.50.03370.09-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.01600.02710.08-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.00650.01590.05-0.00-0.97
0.04-0.00700.00870.03—-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 18 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