Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 12:40 AM ET

ILMN max pain

Spot (delayed)$281.6
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$210-25.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$52.35±18.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.482K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$260largest put OI
IV3069.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$543Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$290+3.0%24d
Fri, Dec 18$210-25.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$150-46.7%80d
Fri, Mar 19$220-21.9%143d
Thu, Jun 17$210-25.4%233d
Fri, Jan 21$125-55.6%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot21065140215290365440$66M$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot21065115160210300390752752
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ILMN open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot210651151602103003901313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot65140215290365440204%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 62.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 11090135175230310390+$172K−$172K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.112100.00250.18-0.12-0.10
0.87-0.132200.00310.23-0.14-0.13
0.83-0.162300.00380.27-0.17-0.17
0.78-0.182400.00440.31-0.19-0.22
0.73-0.212500.00490.35-0.21-0.27
0.67-0.232600.00540.38-0.23-0.33
0.61-0.242700.00580.40-0.24-0.39
0.55-0.252800.00600.42-0.25-0.45
0.49-0.252900.00600.42-0.25-0.51
0.44-0.253000.00600.42-0.25-0.57
0.38-0.243100.00580.40-0.24-0.62
0.33-0.233200.00550.38-0.23-0.67
0.29-0.213300.00520.36-0.21-0.72
0.25-0.203400.00480.33-0.19-0.76
0.21-0.183500.00440.30-0.18-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 51 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot35851351852703701K0
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

spot35851351852703702K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K 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: ILMN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk