Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:04 AM ET

GPI max pain

Spot (delayed)$244.97
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$360+47.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$63.55±25.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI3.73164 puts / 44 calls
Call wall$300largest call OI
Put wall$155largest put OI
IV3049.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$21Kper 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$260+6.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$220-10.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$270+10.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$360+47.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot360125184243302361420$2M$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 — 360 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3601251551802302803704040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPI open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot36012515518023028037011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12518424330236142065%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 135125155180230280370+$6K−$6K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.051750.00230.36-0.05-0.13
0.85-0.051800.00260.38-0.06-0.14
0.84-0.061850.00280.41-0.06-0.16
0.80-0.061950.00320.47-0.07-0.20
0.78-0.072000.00340.49-0.07-0.22
0.70-0.082200.00420.58-0.08-0.30
0.65-0.082300.00450.62-0.09-0.35
0.60-0.092400.00480.65-0.09-0.40
0.55-0.092500.00490.66-0.09-0.45
0.51-0.092600.00500.67-0.09-0.50
0.46-0.092700.00500.67-0.09-0.55
0.41-0.092800.00500.66-0.09-0.59
0.37-0.082900.00480.64-0.09-0.64
0.33-0.083000.00460.61-0.08-0.68
0.26-0.073200.00420.55-0.07-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 30 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1702703404104906002820
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

spot120170240340440540282282
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 1K 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: GPI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk