Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:26 PM ET

LSCC max pain

Spot (delayed)$98.29
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$115+17.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$21±21.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.63405 puts / 648 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$125largest put OI
IV3079.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$100+1.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$115+17.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$100+1.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$110+11.9%116d
Fri, Mar 19$135+37.3%144d
Thu, Jun 17$100+1.7%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1155588121154187220$5M$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot11555851151451752207575
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LSCC 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

spot11555851151451752201212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5588121154187220101%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1105585115145175220+$8K−$8K
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
0.94-0.03650.00420.05-0.04-0.07
0.90-0.04700.00580.06-0.05-0.10
0.86-0.05750.00760.08-0.06-0.14
0.81-0.07800.00960.10-0.07-0.19
0.76-0.08850.01160.12-0.08-0.25
0.69-0.09900.01320.13-0.09-0.32
0.61-0.09950.01450.14-0.10-0.39
0.54-0.101000.01520.15-0.10-0.47
0.47-0.101050.01530.15-0.10-0.54
0.40-0.091100.01480.14-0.09-0.61
0.33-0.091150.01400.14-0.09-0.67
0.28-0.081200.01280.13-0.08-0.73
0.23-0.071250.01160.12-0.07-0.78
0.19-0.071300.01030.10-0.07-0.82
0.16-0.061350.00900.09-0.06-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 31 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot22.560951301652009K0
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

spot22.555901251601959K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 9K 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: LSCC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk