Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:49 PM ET

GOOG max pain

Spot (delayed)$314.71
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$315+0.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.38±9.3% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI2.34673 puts / 288 calls
Call wall$315largest call OI
Put wall$290largest put OI
IV3037.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$274Kper 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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$330+4.9%4d
Fri, Nov 6$335+6.4%11d
Fri, Nov 13$340+8.0%18d
Fri, Nov 20$340+8.0%25d
Fri, Nov 27$330+4.9%32d
Fri, Dec 4$315+0.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$315+0.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$320+1.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$330+4.9%116d
Fri, Mar 19$340+8.0%144d
Fri, Apr 16$325+3.3%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot315235269303337371405$4M$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 — 315 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot315235275305335365400116116
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GOOG open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot315235275305335365400106106
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot23526930333737140547%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 35.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot235275305335365400+$101K−$101K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.112800.00600.24-0.11-0.15
0.82-0.132850.00690.27-0.13-0.18
0.78-0.142900.00780.31-0.14-0.22
0.74-0.152950.00870.34-0.16-0.27
0.69-0.173000.00940.36-0.17-0.31
0.64-0.183050.01010.39-0.18-0.36
0.59-0.183100.01050.40-0.19-0.42
0.53-0.193150.01080.41-0.19-0.47
0.48-0.193200.01080.41-0.19-0.53
0.43-0.183250.01070.40-0.19-0.58
0.38-0.183300.01040.39-0.18-0.63
0.33-0.173350.00990.37-0.17-0.68
0.28-0.163400.00930.35-0.16-0.73
0.24-0.143450.00860.32-0.15-0.77
0.21-0.133500.00780.29-0.14-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot200275312.5342.53754357K0
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

spot7518525031538045077K77K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 928K call contracts, 689K 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: GOOG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk