Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 21, 12:25 AM ET

GBX max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.82
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$42.5+1.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.68±13.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.74397 puts / 534 calls
Call wall$52.5largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3028.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27.5
Earnings · expectedTue, Oct 27usually before the open

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · 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$42.5+1.6%26d
Fri, Nov 20$45+7.6%61d← 1st expiry after earnings (Tue, Oct 27)
Fri, Dec 18$42.5+1.6%89d
Fri, Mar 19$45+7.6%180d
Fri, Apr 16$40-4.4%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5253545556575$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot42.52532.54047.55565137137
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GBX 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

spot42.52532.54047.555656767
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25354555657568%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 27.52532.54047.55565+$12K$12K
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
0.97-0.01250.00590.01-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.0127.50.00880.02-0.01-0.06
0.93-0.01300.01320.03-0.01-0.08
0.90-0.0132.50.01960.04-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01350.02840.05-0.01-0.17
0.76-0.0137.50.03960.06-0.01-0.25
0.65-0.01400.05080.08-0.01-0.36
0.52-0.0142.50.05700.08-0.02-0.50
0.38-0.01450.05450.08-0.01-0.64
0.27-0.0147.50.04620.07-0.01-0.74
0.20-0.01500.03680.06-0.01-0.82
0.14-0.0152.50.02870.05-0.01-0.87
0.11-0.01550.02250.04-0.01-0.91
0.09-0.0157.50.01770.03-0.01-0.93
0.07-0.01600.01420.03-0.01-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 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

spot254047.555655090
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

spot22.532.542.552.565535535
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 617 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: GBX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk