Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 25, 1:52 AM ET

IA max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.86
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$10-47.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.8±62.6% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.285 puts / 18 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3068.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$55per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Oct 16$20+6.0%21d
Fri, Nov 20$15-20.5%56d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5-7.2%112d
Fri, Apr 16$17.5-7.2%203d
Fri, Jul 16$10-47.0%294d
Fri, Oct 15$15-20.5%385d
Fri, Dec 17$10-47.0%448d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10101418222630$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot101015301515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IA 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

spot1010153011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot101530+$60−$60
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
0.86-0.00100.01130.04-0.00-0.12
0.75-0.01150.01810.06-0.01-0.23
0.43-0.01300.02600.08-0.01-0.59

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

spot2.512.517.522.530405080
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

spot2.51017.52540647647
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 2K 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: IA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk