Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 12:43 AM ET

LMAT max pain

Spot (delayed)$81.55
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$85+4.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.35±21.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.3258 puts / 44 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$80largest put OI
IV3041.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60
Earnings · expectedThu, Nov 5usually after the close

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, Oct 16$80-1.9%2d
Fri, Nov 20$85+4.2%37d← 1st expiry after earnings (Thu, Nov 5)
Fri, Dec 18$75-8.0%65d
Fri, Mar 19$85+4.2%156d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot855566778899110$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot8555657585951052828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LMAT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot85556575859510511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot556677889911055%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 605565758595105+$3K−$3K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01550.00540.08-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01600.00760.10-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.01650.01020.13-0.02-0.16
0.79-0.02700.01330.16-0.02-0.23
0.71-0.02750.01620.18-0.02-0.30
0.62-0.02800.01850.20-0.03-0.40
0.53-0.03850.01940.21-0.03-0.50
0.44-0.03900.01910.21-0.03-0.59
0.36-0.02950.01770.20-0.02-0.68
0.30-0.021000.01600.18-0.02-0.74
0.25-0.021050.01410.17-0.02-0.80
0.21-0.021100.01230.15-0.02-0.84

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

spot607585951105110
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

spot406590115140165516516
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 644 call contracts, 292 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: LMAT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk