Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:56 PM ET

FORM max pain

Spot (delayed)$99.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$105+5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.65±24.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.46820 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$115largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV3087.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$133Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $105

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$130+30.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$105+5.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$110+10.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$100+0.5%173d
Fri, Jan 21$95-4.5%453d
Fri, Jan 19$120+20.6%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1057092114136158180$12M$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1057090110130150180613613
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FORM 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

spot1057090110130150180800800
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot709211413615818091%76%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 79.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1057090110130150180+$55K−$55K
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
0.89-0.06700.00580.08-0.06-0.12
0.85-0.07750.00720.09-0.07-0.16
0.80-0.08800.00870.11-0.08-0.21
0.74-0.09850.01000.13-0.10-0.26
0.69-0.10900.01120.14-0.10-0.32
0.63-0.11950.01200.15-0.11-0.38
0.56-0.111000.01260.15-0.11-0.45
0.50-0.111050.01280.15-0.11-0.51
0.44-0.111100.01270.15-0.11-0.57
0.39-0.111150.01240.15-0.11-0.63
0.33-0.101200.01180.14-0.10-0.68
0.29-0.091250.01110.13-0.10-0.73
0.24-0.091300.01020.12-0.09-0.77
0.21-0.081350.00930.11-0.08-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot45801101401702004K0
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

spot45751051351651954K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 10K 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: FORM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk