Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:06 AM ET

GSHD max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.19
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$50+3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11±22.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.48170 puts / 357 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3070.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$45-6.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$50+3.8%54d
Fri, Mar 19$65+34.9%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50203448627690$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot50203045607590120120
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GSHD 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

spot5020304560759011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot203448627690186%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 50203045607590+$2K−$2K
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
0.97-0.02200.00260.01-0.02-0.03
0.96-0.0222.50.00350.02-0.02-0.04
0.95-0.02250.00460.02-0.02-0.06
0.91-0.03300.00770.03-0.03-0.09
0.86-0.04350.01220.04-0.04-0.14
0.78-0.04400.01810.06-0.04-0.22
0.67-0.05450.02480.07-0.05-0.34
0.53-0.05500.02960.08-0.05-0.48
0.38-0.04550.02970.07-0.04-0.63
0.26-0.04600.02540.06-0.04-0.75
0.18-0.03650.02010.05-0.03-0.83
0.13-0.03700.01560.04-0.03-0.88
0.10-0.02750.01220.03-0.03-0.92
0.08-0.02800.00970.03-0.02-0.94
0.06-0.02850.00780.02-0.02-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot25405570859090
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

spot2035557595909909
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 414 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: GSHD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk