Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:05 AM ET

LNTH max pain

Spot (delayed)$99.8
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65-34.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3±3.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.461K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV308.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$100Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $100

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$90-9.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$65-34.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$65-34.9%81d
Fri, Apr 16$100+0.2%172d
Thu, Jun 17$90-9.8%234d
Fri, Sep 17$105+5.2%326d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot65255687118149180$20M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot652547.567.587.5115155678678
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LNTH 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

spot652547.567.587.511515522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot80889610411212031%5%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 7.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 10037.557.577.595125160+$73K−$73K
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
0.99-0.0082.50.00340.01-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00850.00510.02-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.0087.50.00800.02-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.00900.01310.03-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.0192.50.02280.05-0.01-0.06
0.89-0.01950.04200.08-0.01-0.11
0.78-0.0197.50.07960.12-0.01-0.23
0.54-0.011000.11900.15-0.01-0.48
0.15-0.011050.05330.09-0.01-0.91
0.06-0.011100.01960.05-0.00-0.99
0.03-0.001150.00900.030.00-1.00
0.02-0.001200.00480.02—-1.00
0.01-0.001250.00280.01—-1.00
0.01-0.001300.00180.01—-1.00
0.01-0.001350.00120.01—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot255070901201609650
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

spot2547.567.587.51151551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K 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: LNTH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk