Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:12 AM ET

FRMI max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.57
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$6+133.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.85±33.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.7846K puts / 59K calls
Call wall$7.5largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV30119.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$31Kper 1% move

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, Oct 30$4+55.7%4d
Fri, Nov 6$3.5+36.2%11d
Fri, Nov 13$3.5+36.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$5+94.6%25d
Fri, Nov 27$5.5+114.0%32d
Fri, Dec 4$2.5-2.7%39d
Fri, Dec 18$6+133.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$5+94.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$4+55.7%116d
Fri, Mar 19$3.5+36.2%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6159141822$67M$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 — 6 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot613.55.510152019K19K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FRMI 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

spot613.55.5101520505505
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot159141822312%90%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 108.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13.55.5101520+$24K−$24K
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
0.96-0.0010.05060.00-0.00-0.04
0.78-0.0020.25240.00-0.00-0.22
0.61-0.002.50.34180.00-0.00-0.39
0.46-0.0030.34320.00-0.00-0.55
0.34-0.003.50.30160.00-0.00-0.66
0.27-0.0040.25570.00-0.00-0.74
0.22-0.004.50.21660.00-0.00-0.79
0.18-0.0050.18530.00-0.00-0.83
0.15-0.005.50.16050.00-0.00-0.86
0.13-0.0060.14060.00-0.00-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot0.52.54.56.58.54K0
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

spot0.53.56.59.51318138K138K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 594K call contracts, 191K 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: FRMI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk