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

FORM max pain

Spot (delayed)$99.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$100+0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$40.65±40.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.3799 puts / 270 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$80largest put OI
IV3087.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $100

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

spot1005588121154187220$2M$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10055851101351601905656
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FORM open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot100558511013516019066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot558812115418722081%73%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 1005585110135160190+$3K−$3K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.03650.00410.15-0.04-0.14
0.83-0.04700.00480.17-0.04-0.17
0.80-0.04750.00540.20-0.04-0.21
0.76-0.05800.00590.21-0.05-0.24
0.72-0.05850.00640.23-0.05-0.28
0.69-0.05900.00680.24-0.05-0.32
0.65-0.05950.00720.25-0.06-0.36
0.61-0.061000.00740.26-0.06-0.40
0.58-0.061050.00760.27-0.06-0.43
0.54-0.061100.00780.27-0.06-0.47
0.51-0.061150.00780.27-0.06-0.51
0.47-0.061200.00780.27-0.06-0.54
0.44-0.061250.00780.27-0.06-0.58
0.41-0.061300.00770.27-0.06-0.61
0.38-0.061350.00750.26-0.06-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 28 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