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

FWRD max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.3
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$10-34.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.43±61.6% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.10751 puts / 7K calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3082.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$44Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$17.5+14.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$15-2.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-18.3%81d
Fri, Mar 19$17.5+14.4%144d
Fri, Dec 17$10-34.6%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1031120283745$15M$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, Dec 17

spot102.51017.525403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FWRD open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot102.51017.5254011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot31120283745192%69%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 102.51017.52540+$15K−$15K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98—2.50.00230.01-0.00-0.02
0.950.0050.00650.02-0.00-0.05
0.90-0.007.50.01190.03-0.00-0.10
0.83-0.00100.01750.04-0.00-0.17
0.77-0.0012.50.02240.05-0.01-0.24
0.70-0.01150.02610.06-0.01-0.31
0.63-0.0117.50.02860.06-0.01-0.38
0.57-0.01200.03000.06-0.01-0.45
0.51-0.0122.50.03050.07-0.01-0.51
0.46-0.01250.03040.07-0.01-0.57
0.38-0.01300.02910.06-0.01-0.67
0.32-0.01350.02710.06-0.00-0.75
0.27-0.01400.02480.05-0.00-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot512.52030452K0
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

spot2.51017.52540555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K 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: FWRD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk