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

GSHD max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.19
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$65+34.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.4±34.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.08154 puts / 142 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3070.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$498per 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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

spot65253851647790$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot652540557090103103
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GSHD open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot65254055709011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot253851647790102%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 552540557090+$4K−$4K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01250.00490.04-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.02300.00730.06-0.02-0.12
0.83-0.02350.01030.08-0.02-0.18
0.76-0.03400.01350.10-0.03-0.25
0.67-0.03450.01660.11-0.03-0.33
0.58-0.03500.01880.12-0.03-0.43
0.49-0.03550.01990.12-0.03-0.53
0.40-0.03600.01970.12-0.03-0.62
0.32-0.02650.01840.11-0.03-0.70
0.26-0.02700.01660.10-0.02-0.77
0.21-0.02750.01460.09-0.02-0.83
0.14-0.01850.01100.07-0.02-0.91
0.12-0.01900.00960.06-0.02-0.94

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

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