Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:17 AM ET

FCNCA max pain

Spot (delayed)$2,376
Max pain · Fri, May 21$2,210-7.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$390.1±16.4% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.1219 puts / 156 calls
Call wall$2,220largest call OI
Put wall$2,210largest put OI
IV3025.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$550Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $1,980

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$2,160-9.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$1,900-20.0%53d
Fri, Feb 19$2,100-11.6%116d
Fri, May 21$2,210-7.0%207d
Fri, Aug 20$1,800-24.2%298d
Fri, Nov 19$1,360-42.8%389d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2210182019962172234825242700$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 — 2210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot2210182019802220242027006868
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FCNCA open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot22101820198022202420270011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot18201996217223482524270031%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 198018201980222024202700+$269K−$269K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.2619400.00043.90-0.28-0.14
0.85-0.2819800.00044.23-0.31-0.15
0.73-0.3922000.00076.03-0.42-0.29
0.72-0.3922100.00076.10-0.42-0.29
0.71-0.3922200.00076.17-0.43-0.30
0.71-0.4022300.00076.23-0.43-0.31
0.67-0.4122800.00076.55-0.45-0.35
0.56-0.4424200.00087.12-0.49-0.47
0.54-0.4424400.00087.16-0.49-0.49
0.49-0.4425000.00087.20-0.49-0.54
0.34-0.4027000.00086.61-0.46-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot98017701960211022402460610
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

spot98014201800204022102440152152
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 894 call contracts, 779 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: FCNCA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk