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

GBX max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.82
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$45+7.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.05±19.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.6425 puts / 39 calls
Call wall$57.5largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3028.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$676per 1% move · flip ≈ $57.5
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

spot45303642485460$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot453037.542.547.552.557.51919
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GBX 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

spot453037.542.547.552.557.51010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot30364248546054%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 57.53037.542.547.552.557.5+$711$711
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
0.89-0.01300.01420.06-0.01-0.11
0.85-0.0132.50.01900.07-0.01-0.16
0.72-0.0137.50.03040.10-0.01-0.29
0.64-0.01400.03550.11-0.01-0.37
0.54-0.0142.50.03860.12-0.01-0.47
0.45-0.01450.03910.12-0.01-0.56
0.36-0.0147.50.03720.11-0.01-0.65
0.29-0.01500.03370.10-0.01-0.73
0.23-0.0152.50.02950.09-0.01-0.80
0.18-0.01550.02530.08-0.01-0.84
0.15-0.0157.50.02140.07-0.01-0.88
0.12-0.01600.01800.06-0.01-0.91

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

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