Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:20 AM ET

IRDM max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.44
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$45+1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.5±30.4% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI1.05155 puts / 148 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3038.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$45+1.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$45+1.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$45+1.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$35-21.2%173d
Fri, Dec 17$45+1.3%418d
Fri, Jan 21$45+1.3%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45233344546575$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot4522.530405060704444
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IRDM open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot4522.5304050607011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot23334454657558%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 6522.53040506070+$1K−$1K
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 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95—22.50.00500.04-0.00-0.05
0.930.00250.00660.06-0.00-0.07
0.87-0.00300.01060.09-0.00-0.12
0.79-0.00350.01530.13-0.01-0.20
0.69-0.01400.01920.16-0.01-0.30
0.58-0.01450.02150.18-0.01-0.42
0.48-0.01500.02200.18-0.01-0.52
0.39-0.01550.02110.18-0.01-0.62
0.32-0.01600.01940.17-0.01-0.71
0.26-0.01650.01740.15-0.01-0.78
0.21-0.01700.01530.13-0.00-0.84
0.17-0.01750.01330.12-0.00-0.90

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

spot22.5355065801K0
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

spot22.5355065802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 4K 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: IRDM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk