Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 18, 12:42 AM ET

LFUS max pain

Spot (delayed)$381.59
Max pain · Fri, Sep 17$370-3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$131±34.3% by Fri, Sep 17
Put/Call OI0.292 puts / 7 calls
Call wall$550largest call OI
Put wall$310largest put OI
IV3049.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $370

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$430+12.7%33d
Fri, Dec 18$420+10.1%61d
Fri, Mar 19$440+15.3%152d
Thu, Jun 17$360-5.7%242d
Fri, Sep 17$370-3.0%334d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot370310358406454502550$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 — 370 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot37031038052055033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LFUS open contracts per strike for Fri, Sep 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, Sep 17

spot37031038052055044
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spot31035840645450255047%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Sep 17

spotflip 370310380520550+$917−$917
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, Sep 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.78-0.073100.00171.08-0.08-0.23
0.65-0.093700.00221.35-0.09-0.37
0.63-0.093800.00231.38-0.10-0.39
0.38-0.095000.00231.38-0.10-0.66
0.35-0.095200.00221.34-0.09-0.70
0.32-0.095400.00211.29-0.09-0.74
0.30-0.085500.00211.27-0.09-0.76

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

spot2003203904605306302430
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

spot195280370460550640257257
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 2K 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: LFUS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk