Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:13 AM ET

INIO max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.1
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$20+32.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.08±40.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.301K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV30101.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$17Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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$17.5+15.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5+15.9%53d
Fri, Feb 19$20+32.5%116d
Fri, May 21$17.5+15.9%207d
Thu, Jun 17$17.5+15.9%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2081727364655$11M$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, Feb 19

spot207.51522.535502K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INIO open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot207.51522.535503232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot81727364655131%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 88.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 12.57.51522.53550+$20K−$20K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.017.50.01450.01-0.01-0.08
0.85-0.01100.02620.02-0.01-0.15
0.74-0.0112.50.03920.03-0.01-0.26
0.62-0.01150.04860.03-0.01-0.38
0.50-0.0117.50.05190.04-0.01-0.50
0.40-0.01200.05010.03-0.01-0.61
0.31-0.0122.50.04560.03-0.01-0.70
0.25-0.01250.04030.03-0.01-0.76
0.16-0.01300.03030.02-0.01-0.86
0.11-0.01350.02260.02-0.01-0.92
0.08-0.01400.01700.01-0.01-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.51522.535502K0
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

spot2.51017.525405530K30K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 32K 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: INIO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk