Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 2:20 AM ET

GLAS max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.37
Max pain · Fri, May 21$3+26.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.33±55.9% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.13418 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV30115.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move

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$5+111.0%30d
Fri, Dec 18$2-15.6%58d
Fri, Feb 19$5+111.0%121d
Fri, May 21$3+26.6%212d
Fri, Dec 17$3+26.6%422d
Fri, Jan 21$1-57.8%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot314791215$3M$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot312.53.57.5152K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GLAS open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot312.53.57.5154343
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot14791215229%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spot12.53.57.515+$1K−$1K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.0010.06270.00-0.00-0.09
0.84-0.001.50.12070.00-0.00-0.17
0.64-0.002.50.21460.01-0.00-0.38
0.56-0.0030.21470.01-0.00-0.47
0.50-0.003.50.20350.01-0.00-0.52
0.41-0.0050.17020.01-0.00-0.62
0.35-0.007.50.13900.01-0.00-0.70
0.31-0.00100.12200.01-0.00-0.74
0.27-0.00150.10320.01-0.00-0.80

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

spot13512.52014K0
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

spot0.523.551017.514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 65K call contracts, 9K 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: GLAS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk