Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:23 PM ET

IUSB max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.93
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$47+4.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.38±3.1% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI3.0012 puts / 4 calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$47largest put OI
IV305.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$164per 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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+0.1%26d
Fri, Dec 18$46+2.4%54d
Fri, Feb 19$47+4.6%117d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot47424344454647$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 — 47 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot4742434546471010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IUSB 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

spot47424345464711
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot42434444454616%7%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 6.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 454243454647+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.990.00420.03140.01-0.00-0.11
0.77-0.00430.16810.07-0.00-0.28
0.39-0.00450.23710.10-0.00-0.67
0.19-0.00460.16330.07-0.00-0.91
0.07-0.00470.08200.04-0.00-0.93

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

spot44454647330
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

spot3539434751553333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 39 call contracts, 18 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: IUSB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk