Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 10:01 AM ET

IQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$0.84
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$1+19.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.39±45.8% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.531K puts / 693 calls
Call wall$1largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV3071.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$366per 1% move

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, Oct 30$0.5-40.5%2d
Fri, Nov 6$0.5-40.5%9d
Fri, Nov 13$0.5-40.5%16d
Fri, Nov 20$1+19.0%23d
Fri, Nov 27$0.5-40.5%30d
Fri, Dec 4$0.5-40.5%37d
Fri, Dec 18$1+19.0%51d
Fri, Jan 15$1.5+78.6%79d
Fri, Mar 19$1+19.0%142d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1111122$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 — 1 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot10.511.521K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IQ open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot10.511.525050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot11.52+$419−$419
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.890.000.50.33700.000.00-0.14
0.480.0011.05570.00-0.00-0.55
0.27-0.001.50.67690.00-0.00-0.78
0.21-0.0020.48820.00-0.00-0.85

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

spot0.511.5233K0
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

spot0.51.52.53.54.55.558K58K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 124K call contracts, 66K 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: IQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk