Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:31 AM ET

ICLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.07
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$18+12.0% vs spot
Put/Call OI1.85155 puts / 84 calls
Call wall$23largest call OI
Put wall$17largest put OI
IV3033.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $11

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, Oct 30$18+12.0%5d
Fri, Nov 6$17.5+8.9%12d
Fri, Nov 13$17+5.8%19d
Fri, Nov 20$19+18.2%26d
Fri, Nov 27$18+12.0%33d
Fri, Dec 18$13-19.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$14-12.9%82d
Fri, Apr 16$18+12.0%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1881216202428$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 — 18 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot188141822263838
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ICLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot1881418222644
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot11141821252885%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 11814182226+$1K−$1K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.0080.01510.02-0.00-0.08
0.86-0.00110.03270.02-0.00-0.13
0.83-0.00120.04280.03-0.00-0.16
0.80-0.00130.05680.03-0.00-0.20
0.74-0.00140.07590.04-0.00-0.25
0.66-0.00150.09930.04-0.00-0.33
0.55-0.00160.11640.04-0.00-0.45
0.44-0.00170.11420.04-0.00-0.56
0.35-0.00180.10050.04-0.00-0.65
0.29-0.00190.08590.04-0.00-0.71
0.25-0.00200.07350.04-0.00-0.76
0.21-0.00210.06350.03-0.00-0.79
0.19-0.00220.05550.03-0.00-0.82
0.17-0.00230.04900.03-0.00-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot15.517.519.522.5500
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

spot311151923306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 10K 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: ICLN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk