Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 11:14 PM ET

IT max pain

Spot (delayed)$230.28
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$200-13.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$72.3±31.4% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI2.73120 puts / 44 calls
Call wall$260largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3057.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $200

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$200-13.1%27d
Fri, Dec 18$175-24.0%55d
Fri, Mar 19$185-19.7%146d
Thu, Jun 17$200-13.1%236d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot200145170195220245270$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot200145200220240270120120
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IT open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot20014520022024027022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot14517019522024527051%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 49.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 200145200220240270+$24K−$24K
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.031450.00160.29-0.03-0.09
0.75-0.061950.00340.58-0.06-0.25
0.73-0.062000.00350.61-0.07-0.27
0.69-0.072100.00380.65-0.07-0.31
0.65-0.072200.00400.69-0.07-0.36
0.61-0.072300.00420.71-0.08-0.40
0.57-0.072400.00430.73-0.08-0.45
0.49-0.072600.00440.74-0.08-0.53
0.45-0.072700.00440.73-0.08-0.57

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

spot701151602103004001K0
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

spot651151652303304301K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K 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: IT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk