Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:13 PM ET

GPC max pain

Spot (delayed)$120.82
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$120-0.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.75±8.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.39372 puts / 963 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3028.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$88Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $135

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$125+3.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$120-0.7%52d
Fri, Jan 15$115-4.8%80d
Fri, Feb 19$135+11.7%115d
Fri, Mar 19$115-4.8%143d
Fri, May 21$115-4.8%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1205079108137166195$5M$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1205075100125150180341341
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPC 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

spot120507510012515018011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5079108137166195111%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1355075100125150180+$53K−$53K
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
0.98-0.01850.00230.02-0.01-0.03
0.97-0.01900.00360.03-0.02-0.04
0.95-0.02950.00550.05-0.02-0.06
0.93-0.021000.00850.07-0.03-0.09
0.88-0.031050.01290.09-0.03-0.14
0.81-0.041100.01920.12-0.04-0.21
0.71-0.051150.02670.15-0.05-0.32
0.56-0.051200.03230.18-0.05-0.46
0.40-0.051250.03190.17-0.04-0.62
0.27-0.041300.02620.15-0.04-0.74
0.18-0.031350.01950.12-0.03-0.83
0.12-0.031400.01420.09-0.02-0.89
0.09-0.021450.01040.07-0.02-0.92
0.06-0.021500.00770.06-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.021550.00580.05-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot65951201451701951K0
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

spot50801101401702002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 3K 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: GPC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk