Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 31, 9:33 AM ET

IPSC max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.47
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$2.5+70.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.14±77.6% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI2.872K puts / 534 calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3085.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$751per 1% move · flip ≈ $2

Event risk before this expiration: 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$1-32.0%20d
Fri, Jan 15$2+36.1%76d
Fri, Mar 19$2.5+70.1%139d
Fri, Apr 16$2.5+70.1%167d
Fri, Dec 17$2.5+70.1%412d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5112345$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2.50.511.522.551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IPSC 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

spot2.50.511.522.5511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot123345233%76%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 101.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 211.522.5+$640−$640
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
0.98-0.000.50.06560.00-0.00-0.07
0.87-0.0010.18310.00-0.00-0.18
0.72-0.001.50.30100.00-0.00-0.34
0.59-0.0020.33030.00-0.00-0.47
0.51-0.002.50.30880.00-0.00-0.56
0.39-0.0050.21800.00-0.00-0.69

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

spot0.51.52.57.53K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 5K 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: IPSC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk