Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 3:14 AM ET

IEI max pain

Spot (delayed)$114.65
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$113-1.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.65±4.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.48450 puts / 944 calls
Call wall$117largest call OI
Put wall$110largest put OI
IV304.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$730Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $104

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$114-0.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$112-2.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$117+2.0%82d
Fri, Apr 16$113-1.4%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot113103106110113117120$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 — 113 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot113103106110113116119720720
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IEI 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

spot1131031061101131161191010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10310611011311712013%4%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 7.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 104103106110113116119+$870K−$870K
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
0.96-0.001070.01840.09-0.00-0.05
0.92-0.001090.03280.13-0.00-0.09
0.89-0.001100.04350.16-0.00-0.12
0.85-0.001110.05690.20-0.00-0.17
0.80-0.001120.07230.23-0.00-0.24
0.72-0.001130.08780.27-0.00-0.32
0.63-0.001140.09990.29-0.01-0.42
0.53-0.001150.10500.31-0.01-0.54
0.43-0.001160.10170.31-0.01-0.66
0.34-0.001170.09190.29-0.00-0.75
0.26-0.001180.07900.26-0.00-0.83
0.20-0.001190.06590.23-0.00-0.89
0.16-0.001200.05370.20-0.00-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1041141171201257690
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

spot10010611211812413010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 12K 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: IEI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk