Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:07 AM ET

LTH max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.93
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$40-4.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.85±23.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.85573 puts / 309 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3045.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$40-4.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$40-4.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$40-4.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$40-4.6%172d
Fri, Jan 21$20-52.3%452d
Fri, Jan 19$20-52.3%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40233140485765$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot4022.530405065344344
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LTH open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot4022.5304050658585
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot25334149576565%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 2522.530405065+$14K−$14K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0022.50.00480.02-0.00-0.04
0.94-0.00250.00700.03-0.01-0.06
0.89-0.01300.01350.06-0.01-0.11
0.79-0.01350.02240.08-0.01-0.21
0.64-0.01400.03050.11-0.01-0.36
0.48-0.01450.03330.12-0.01-0.53
0.34-0.01500.03050.11-0.01-0.68
0.24-0.01550.02510.09-0.01-0.80
0.11-0.01650.01480.06-0.01-0.95

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

spot17.5304050602K0
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

spot17.522.5304050604K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 6K 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: LTH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk