Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:24 AM ET

MANU max pain

Spot (delayed)$20.72
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$20-3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.33±20.9% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI1.1981 puts / 68 calls
Call wall$31largest call OI
Put wall$18largest put OI
IV3033.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$466per 1% move · flip ≈ $17

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$20-3.5%24d
Fri, Dec 18$20-3.5%52d
Fri, Jan 15$20-3.5%80d
Fri, Mar 19$20-3.5%143d
Fri, Jan 21$17-18.0%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot20131720242731$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot2013182124302828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MANU 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

spot20131821243099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot13172024273162%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 171318212430+$723−$723
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
0.91-0.00130.01830.02-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.01150.02850.03-0.01-0.13
0.80-0.01170.04430.04-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01180.05460.04-0.01-0.24
0.70-0.01190.06570.04-0.01-0.30
0.63-0.01200.07540.05-0.01-0.38
0.55-0.01210.08050.05-0.01-0.46
0.47-0.01220.07960.05-0.01-0.54
0.41-0.01230.07450.05-0.01-0.60
0.35-0.01240.06790.05-0.01-0.66
0.31-0.01250.06130.05-0.01-0.70
0.25-0.01270.05010.04-0.01-0.76
0.20-0.01300.03840.04-0.01-0.82
0.19-0.01310.03550.04-0.01-0.84

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

spot316202428322K0
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

spot312172227329K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 11K 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: MANU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk