Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 4:59 AM ET

IDYA max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$20-42.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16±46.4% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.026 puts / 263 calls
Call wall$42.5largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3068.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move

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 16$25-27.5%2d
Fri, Nov 20$37.5+8.7%37d
Fri, Jan 15$30-13.0%93d
Fri, Apr 16$35+1.4%184d
Fri, Dec 17$20-42.0%429d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20152331394755$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot201527.53542.555146146
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IDYA 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

spot201527.53542.5551010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot15233139475569%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot1527.53542.555+$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, Dec 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00150.00460.05-0.00-0.06
0.89-0.00200.00810.07-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.0022.50.01000.09-0.01-0.15
0.78-0.0127.50.01410.11-0.01-0.23
0.73-0.01300.01590.12-0.01-0.28
0.69-0.0132.50.01760.13-0.01-0.33
0.64-0.01350.01890.14-0.01-0.38
0.59-0.0137.50.01980.14-0.01-0.43
0.55-0.01400.02040.15-0.01-0.48
0.50-0.0142.50.02070.15-0.01-0.54
0.46-0.01450.02070.15-0.01-0.58
0.38-0.01500.02000.14-0.01-0.68
0.32-0.01550.01870.13-0.01-0.76

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

spot1522.532.54047.5602660
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

spot1522.53037.54555434434
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 277 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: IDYA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk