Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:45 AM ET

FIVE max pain

Spot (delayed)$223.24
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$230+3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$43.5±19.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.26783 puts / 621 calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3040.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$50Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $140

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$220-1.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$250+12.0%54d
Fri, Jan 15$165-26.1%82d
Fri, Feb 19$230+3.0%117d
Fri, May 21$230+3.0%208d
Fri, Jan 21$250+12.0%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot230100154208262316370$9M$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 — 230 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot230100135170200260330386386
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FIVE 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

spot23010013517020026033011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot10015420826231637082%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 140100150180220280370+$130K−$130K
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
0.86-0.051750.00370.28-0.05-0.14
0.84-0.061800.00410.31-0.06-0.16
0.81-0.061850.00460.34-0.07-0.18
0.79-0.071900.00500.37-0.07-0.21
0.76-0.071950.00550.40-0.07-0.24
0.73-0.082000.00590.42-0.08-0.27
0.66-0.092100.00660.47-0.09-0.34
0.59-0.092200.00700.49-0.09-0.41
0.52-0.092300.00730.51-0.09-0.49
0.45-0.092400.00730.50-0.09-0.56
0.39-0.092500.00700.49-0.09-0.63
0.33-0.082600.00660.46-0.09-0.69
0.27-0.072700.00610.42-0.08-0.75
0.23-0.072800.00550.38-0.07-0.80
0.19-0.062900.00490.34-0.07-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot30751201652203104590
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

spot30751201652203101K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 8K 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: FIVE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk