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

GRFS max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.56
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$7-7.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.05±13.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.772K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$8largest call OI
Put wall$7largest put OI
IV3032.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $6

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$8+5.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$7-7.4%53d
Fri, Feb 19$8+5.8%116d
Fri, May 21$7-7.4%207d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7358101315$1M$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot736810121K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GRFS 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

spot7368101211
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6810111315177%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 57.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 63681012+$22K−$22K
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
0.98-0.0030.01600.00-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.0050.06030.00-0.00-0.07
0.87-0.0060.12620.01-0.00-0.13
0.71-0.0070.28710.01-0.00-0.29
0.36-0.0080.35730.01-0.00-0.63
0.18-0.0090.19730.01-0.00-0.81
0.12-0.00100.11890.01-0.00-0.88
0.08-0.00110.08050.01-0.00-0.91
0.06-0.00120.05890.00-0.00-0.93
0.04-0.00150.03000.00-0.00-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot36810122K0
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

spot1471013162K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K 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: GRFS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk