Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:15 PM ET

LI max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.26
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$14+24.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.51±13.4% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI4.004 puts / 1 calls
Call wall$16largest call OI
Put wall$14largest put OI
IV3050.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$51per 1% move

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$12+6.6%3d
Fri, Nov 6$11-2.3%10d
Fri, Nov 13$11.5+2.1%17d
Fri, Nov 20$11-2.3%24d
Fri, Nov 27$11-2.3%31d
Fri, Dec 4$14+24.3%38d
Fri, Dec 18$13+15.5%52d
Fri, Jan 15$15+33.2%80d
Fri, Mar 19$12+6.6%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot14101112131516$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 — 14 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot149.5141633
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot149.5141611
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot9.51416+$43−$43
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.86-0.019.50.11290.01-0.01-0.14
0.13-0.01140.10740.01-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.00160.05280.01-0.00-0.95

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

spot6810.512.514.5181K0
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

spot38.512.516.520.52721K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 83K call contracts, 58K 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: LI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk