Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:28 AM ET

FEIM max pain

Spot (delayed)$64
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$60-6.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.75±37.1% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.2984 puts / 286 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3080.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $70

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$75+17.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$65+1.6%53d
Fri, Feb 19$60-6.3%116d
Fri, May 21$70+9.4%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6035547392111130$1M$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot60355575951156161
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FEIM open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot603555759511511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot3554739211113099%78%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 82.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 7035557595115+$2K−$2K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.02350.00430.05-0.02-0.08
0.88-0.03400.00590.07-0.03-0.12
0.83-0.03450.00760.09-0.03-0.17
0.78-0.04500.00920.11-0.04-0.22
0.72-0.04550.01060.12-0.04-0.28
0.66-0.05600.01180.13-0.05-0.34
0.59-0.05650.01250.14-0.05-0.41
0.53-0.05700.01300.14-0.05-0.47
0.47-0.05750.01300.14-0.05-0.53
0.42-0.05800.01290.14-0.05-0.59
0.37-0.05850.01240.14-0.05-0.64
0.32-0.04900.01190.13-0.05-0.69
0.28-0.04950.01120.12-0.04-0.73
0.24-0.041000.01040.11-0.04-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot22.55575951151080
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

spot22.5406080100120122122
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 921 call contracts, 482 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: FEIM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk