Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:30 AM ET

FUTU max pain

Spot (delayed)$99.9
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$105+5.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.2±15.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.51195 puts / 384 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3049.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$30Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $105

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$110+10.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$110+10.1%11d
Fri, Nov 13$115+15.1%18d
Fri, Nov 20$107.45+7.6%25d
Fri, Nov 27$110+10.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$106+6.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$105+5.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$120.5+20.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$105+5.1%116d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1057594113132151170$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1057590105120135160217217
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FUTU 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

spot1057590105120135160403403
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot759411313215117070%47%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1057590105120135160+$42K−$42K
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
0.92-0.03750.00670.06-0.03-0.08
0.88-0.04800.00960.08-0.04-0.13
0.82-0.05850.01290.10-0.05-0.19
0.74-0.06900.01610.13-0.06-0.27
0.65-0.07950.01870.15-0.07-0.36
0.55-0.071000.02010.15-0.07-0.46
0.45-0.071050.02020.15-0.07-0.56
0.36-0.071100.01900.15-0.07-0.66
0.28-0.061150.01700.13-0.06-0.74
0.22-0.051200.01470.12-0.06-0.81
0.17-0.041250.01230.10-0.05-0.86
0.12-0.041300.01000.08-0.04-0.91
0.09-0.031350.00810.07-0.04-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot991051111171231292740
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

spot25.570.595115140172.454K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 35K call contracts, 46K 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: FUTU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk