Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:29 AM ET

FULC max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.67
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$4+9.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.9±24.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI11.494K puts / 338 calls
Call wall$4largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV3025.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$45Kper 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, Nov 20$4+9.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$4+9.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$4+9.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$4+9.0%144d
Thu, Jun 17$4+9.0%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4123567$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 — 4 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot41345674K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FULC open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot413456711
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot134567+$45K−$45K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.000.0010.01300.000.00-0.01
0.910.0030.23700.01-0.00-0.12
0.45-0.0040.66960.01-0.00-0.69
0.21-0.0050.28980.01-0.00-0.92
0.15-0.0060.17600.01-0.00-0.97
0.11-0.0070.12590.010.00-0.99

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

spot14712204K0
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

spot1591317276K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 7K 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: FULC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk