Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:17 PM ET

GPCR max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.3
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$35+64.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.38±29.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.321K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3085.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 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$25+17.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$35+64.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$27.5+29.1%82d
Fri, Apr 16$30+40.8%173d
Fri, Jan 21$40+87.8%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot3513386489115140$29M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3512.532.552.572.592.51251K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPCR 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

spot3512.532.552.572.592.512555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13386489115140287%89%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot12.532.552.572.592.5125+$7K−$7K
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
0.93-0.0112.50.01520.01-0.01-0.08
0.87-0.02150.02600.02-0.02-0.14
0.78-0.0217.50.03950.03-0.02-0.23
0.65-0.02200.05110.03-0.03-0.36
0.52-0.0322.50.05580.03-0.03-0.49
0.39-0.03250.05330.03-0.03-0.62
0.30-0.0227.50.04690.03-0.02-0.72
0.23-0.02300.03970.03-0.02-0.79
0.18-0.0232.50.03310.02-0.02-0.84
0.14-0.02350.02750.02-0.02-0.88
0.12-0.0137.50.02300.02-0.02-0.91
0.10-0.01400.01940.01-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.53552.57087.51101K0
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

spot12.532.552.572.592.51251K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 9K call contracts, 4K 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: GPCR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk