Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:49 PM ET

HTFL max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.7
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$45-20.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$35.5±62.6% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.82498 puts / 610 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3098.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$50-11.8%26d
Fri, Dec 18$35-38.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$35-38.3%82d
Fri, Mar 19$30-47.1%145d
Fri, Apr 16$40-29.5%173d
Fri, Dec 17$45-20.6%418d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45132538506375$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot4512.525405570212212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)HTFL open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot4512.52540557099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot132538506375103%71%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 77.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 2512.525405570+$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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96—17.50.00150.05-0.01-0.04
0.92-0.00250.00290.09-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01300.00380.11-0.01-0.11
0.85-0.01350.00470.14-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.01400.00560.16-0.01-0.19
0.77-0.01450.00640.18-0.02-0.23
0.73-0.01500.00710.20-0.02-0.27
0.69-0.02550.00770.21-0.02-0.32
0.65-0.02600.00810.22-0.02-0.36
0.61-0.02650.00840.23-0.02-0.40
0.58-0.02700.00870.24-0.02-0.44
0.54-0.02750.00880.24-0.02-0.48

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.522.53550652K0
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

spot12.520304560752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: HTFL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk