Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:46 AM ET

GRAL max pain

Spot (delayed)$132.62
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$105-20.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$58.65±44.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.22191 puts / 856 calls
Call wall$195largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3091.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$57Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $70

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$130-2.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$120-9.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$65-51.0%81d
Fri, Apr 16$105-20.8%172d
Fri, Jan 21$55-58.5%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1053576117158199240$8M$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1053570105140175220169169
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GRAL 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

spot105357010514017522022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3576117158199240106%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 81.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 704070100130160190+$15K−$15K
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
0.79-0.061000.00370.26-0.06-0.21
0.76-0.071050.00400.28-0.07-0.24
0.74-0.071100.00420.30-0.07-0.26
0.71-0.071150.00450.31-0.07-0.29
0.69-0.071200.00470.32-0.08-0.31
0.66-0.081250.00480.33-0.08-0.34
0.64-0.081300.00500.34-0.08-0.37
0.61-0.081350.00510.35-0.08-0.39
0.58-0.081400.00520.36-0.08-0.42
0.56-0.081450.00530.36-0.08-0.44
0.54-0.081500.00530.36-0.09-0.47
0.51-0.081550.00540.36-0.09-0.49
0.49-0.081600.00540.36-0.09-0.52
0.47-0.081650.00540.36-0.09-0.54
0.45-0.081700.00530.36-0.08-0.56

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 37 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.525651051451856640
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

spot2.525701151602101K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 7K 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: GRAL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk