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

FOXF max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.07
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$22.5+49.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.43±29.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.6093 puts / 155 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3071.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$560per 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$15-0.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5+49.3%53d
Fri, Mar 19$20+32.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$17.5+16.1%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.5101316192225$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot22.5101520256868
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FOXF 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

spot22.51015202511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot101316192225101%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 94.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2010152025+$508−$508
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
0.90-0.01100.03030.01-0.01-0.10
0.78-0.0112.50.06200.02-0.01-0.22
0.58-0.01150.09030.02-0.01-0.43
0.38-0.0117.50.08330.02-0.02-0.63
0.26-0.01200.06440.02-0.01-0.76
0.18-0.0122.50.04870.02-0.01-0.83
0.13-0.01250.03730.01-0.01-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1017.522.530640
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5307272
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 213 call contracts, 237 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: FOXF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk