Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 11:13 PM ET

INSP max pain

Spot (delayed)$72.66
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$75+3.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.75±31.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.6418 puts / 28 calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3078.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$50-31.2%28d
Fri, Dec 18$80+10.1%56d
Fri, Jan 15$60-17.4%84d
Fri, Feb 19$75+3.2%119d
Fri, Mar 19$40-44.9%147d
Fri, May 21$65-10.5%210d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot752340587593110$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 — 75 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot7522.530407080901616
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)INSP 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

spot7522.5304070809011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2340587593110145%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 8022.53040708090+$963−$963
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
0.98—22.50.00100.02-0.01-0.02
0.98-0.00250.00120.02-0.01-0.02
0.96-0.01300.00190.03-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01350.00270.04-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.01400.00390.06-0.02-0.07
0.89-0.02450.00520.08-0.03-0.10
0.62-0.04700.01300.16-0.04-0.38
0.55-0.04750.01380.16-0.04-0.45
0.48-0.04800.01410.17-0.04-0.51
0.42-0.04850.01390.16-0.04-0.58
0.36-0.04900.01340.16-0.04-0.64
0.20-0.031100.00980.12-0.03-0.81

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

spot2550751001251502950
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

spot22.55590125160195435435
■ 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: INSP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk