Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:31 PM ET

IDCC max pain

Spot (delayed)$332.15
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$320-3.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$130.35±39.2% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.6280 puts / 130 calls
Call wall$470largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3048.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $230

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$330-0.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$310-6.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$290-12.7%81d
Fri, Mar 19$200-39.8%144d
Thu, Jun 17$450+35.5%234d
Fri, Dec 17$320-3.7%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320150220290360430500$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 — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot3201501952803203804402424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IDCC 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

spot32015019528032038044011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot15022029036043050055%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 230150195280320380440+$6K−$6K
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
0.85-0.032300.00130.81-0.05-0.15
0.79-0.042600.00171.00-0.06-0.21
0.75-0.052800.00191.11-0.06-0.26
0.73-0.052900.00201.16-0.07-0.28
0.70-0.063000.00201.21-0.07-0.30
0.68-0.063100.00211.25-0.07-0.33
0.66-0.063200.00221.28-0.07-0.35
0.64-0.063300.00221.31-0.07-0.38
0.62-0.073400.00231.34-0.07-0.40
0.59-0.073500.00231.36-0.07-0.42
0.53-0.073800.00241.40-0.07-0.49
0.47-0.074100.00241.40-0.07-0.56
0.45-0.074200.00241.39-0.07-0.58
0.43-0.074300.00241.38-0.07-0.61
0.41-0.074400.00241.37-0.07-0.63

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot951602403304205205170
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

spot95145195290390490531531
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K 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: IDCC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk