Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 13, 11:52 AM ET

FTV max pain

Spot (delayed)$57.37
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$55-4.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7±12.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1456 puts / 414 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3031.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$50Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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 16$55-4.1%3d
Fri, Nov 20$55-4.1%38d
Fri, Dec 18$55-4.1%66d
Fri, Mar 19$55-4.1%157d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55304050607080$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot553045556575272272
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FTV 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

spot55304555657511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot304050607080102%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 553045556575+$44K−$44K
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
0.94-0.02300.00420.03-0.02-0.06
0.90-0.02400.00960.04-0.02-0.10
0.85-0.02450.01530.06-0.03-0.14
0.78-0.02500.02560.07-0.03-0.21
0.64-0.02550.04390.09-0.02-0.36
0.40-0.02600.04960.09-0.02-0.60
0.25-0.02650.03370.08-0.02-0.75
0.18-0.02700.02330.07-0.02-0.82
0.14-0.02750.01730.06-0.02-0.86
0.12-0.02800.01360.05-0.02-0.89

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

spot3050607080902K0
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

spot30456075902K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 83 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: FTV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk