Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 8:22 PM ET

KOID max pain

Spot (delayed)$33.21
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$31-6.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.03±18.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.8486 puts / 102 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$31largest put OI
IV3028.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$462per 1% move · flip ≈ $28

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$36+8.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$32-3.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$36+8.4%82d
Fri, Apr 16$31-6.7%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot31253137434955$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 — 31 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3125303336407070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KOID open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot31253033364055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot25313743495552%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 282530333640+$2K−$2K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.01250.02150.05-0.01-0.13
0.78-0.01280.03260.07-0.01-0.21
0.74-0.01290.03700.07-0.01-0.24
0.70-0.01300.04150.08-0.01-0.28
0.66-0.01310.04580.08-0.01-0.33
0.61-0.01320.04980.09-0.01-0.38
0.56-0.01330.05280.09-0.01-0.43
0.51-0.01340.05470.09-0.01-0.49
0.45-0.01350.05520.09-0.01-0.55
0.40-0.01360.05420.09-0.01-0.60
0.35-0.01370.05220.09-0.01-0.65
0.27-0.01390.04580.08-0.01-0.74
0.24-0.01400.04220.07-0.01-0.78
0.21-0.01410.03870.07-0.01-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2535384144601240
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

spot253035404555140140
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 615 call contracts, 162 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: KOID workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk