Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:32 AM ET

GEHC max pain

Spot (delayed)$71.45
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$67.5-5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.73±10.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.796K puts / 8K calls
Call wall$92.5largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3038.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$218Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$67-6.2%4d
Fri, Nov 6$66-7.6%11d
Fri, Nov 13$70-2.0%18d
Fri, Nov 20$67.5-5.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$64-10.4%32d
Fri, Dec 18$67.5-5.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$70-2.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$62.5-12.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$70-2.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot67.530527496118140$40M$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 — 67.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot67.53047.562.577.592.51153K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GEHC 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

spot67.53047.562.577.592.51154141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot38587999120140125%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 803047.562.577.592.5115+$247K−$247K
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
0.94-0.01550.00890.03-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.0257.50.01230.04-0.02-0.08
0.89-0.02600.01690.05-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.0262.50.02240.07-0.02-0.16
0.78-0.03650.02870.08-0.03-0.23
0.69-0.0367.50.03480.10-0.03-0.31
0.60-0.03700.03960.11-0.03-0.40
0.50-0.0372.50.04180.11-0.04-0.51
0.40-0.03750.04080.11-0.03-0.61
0.31-0.0377.50.03710.10-0.03-0.70
0.23-0.03800.03190.09-0.03-0.79
0.17-0.0282.50.02610.07-0.02-0.85
0.12-0.02850.02080.06-0.02-0.90
0.09-0.0187.50.01610.05-0.02-0.94
0.06-0.01900.01240.04-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5863687378902K0
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

spot305362.572811055K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 37K call contracts, 19K 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: GEHC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk