Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 22, 2:39 AM ET

JBHT max pain

Spot (delayed)$228.59
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$240+5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.2±10.1% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI2.1528 puts / 13 calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$240largest put OI
IV3032.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $180

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$240+5.0%29d
Fri, Dec 18$240+5.0%57d
Fri, Jan 15$200-12.5%85d
Fri, Feb 19$240+5.0%120d
Fri, May 21$230+0.6%211d
Fri, Dec 17$220-3.8%421d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot240175194213232251270$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 — 240 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2401751851952102302601212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)JBHT open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot2401751851952102302605151
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot17519421323225127044%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 180175185195210230260+$7K−$7K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.021800.00290.10-0.03-0.05
0.93-0.031850.00370.12-0.04-0.07
0.91-0.041900.00470.15-0.05-0.09
0.89-0.051950.00590.18-0.05-0.12
0.85-0.062000.00710.21-0.06-0.15
0.77-0.082100.00990.28-0.08-0.24
0.65-0.092200.01230.34-0.10-0.35
0.52-0.102300.01350.36-0.10-0.48
0.39-0.102400.01320.35-0.10-0.62
0.18-0.072600.00910.24-0.06-0.83
0.12-0.052700.00670.18-0.04-0.90

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot751251652102903708500
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

spot65110155200290380924924
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: JBHT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk