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Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Jul 30, 10:25 PM ET

FTW max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.35
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$10-11.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3±26.4% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI0.38791 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3081.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$34Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 21$12.5+10.1%20d
Fri, Sep 18$2.5-78.0%48d
Fri, Oct 16$10-11.9%76d
Fri, Jan 15$10-11.9%167d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot105811141720$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot1057.51012.5202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FTW open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 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, Oct 16

spot1057.51012.52044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot8101315182076%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 60.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spotflip 12.557.51012.520+$37K$37K
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, Oct 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00-0.0250.01610.01-0.00-0.05
0.98-0.017.50.05180.01-0.01-0.12
0.79-0.01100.24080.01-0.01-0.32
0.27-0.0112.50.15000.02-0.00-0.69
0.07-0.00200.03030.01-0.00-0.86

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

spot1012.52K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 2K 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: FTW workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk