Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:13 AM ET

MAR max pain

Spot (delayed)$390.78
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$330-15.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$60.85±15.6% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.2081 puts / 413 calls
Call wall$470largest call OI
Put wall$370largest put OI
IV3030.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$233Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $240

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 30$390-0.2%4d
Fri, Nov 6$375-4.0%11d
Fri, Nov 13$370-5.3%18d
Fri, Nov 20$380-2.8%25d
Fri, Nov 27$400+2.4%32d
Fri, Dec 18$310-20.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$340-13.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$340-13.0%144d
Fri, Apr 16$330-15.6%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot330220274328382436490$3M$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 — 330 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot330220290340390440136136
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MAR 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

spot33022029034039044011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot22027432838243649046%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 240220290340390440+$95K−$95K
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
0.87-0.053200.00250.59-0.05-0.14
0.84-0.053300.00290.67-0.06-0.17
0.81-0.063400.00340.74-0.07-0.20
0.77-0.073500.00380.82-0.07-0.24
0.73-0.073600.00420.90-0.08-0.28
0.69-0.083700.00460.96-0.08-0.33
0.64-0.083800.00491.02-0.09-0.38
0.59-0.083900.00521.05-0.09-0.43
0.54-0.084000.00541.07-0.09-0.49
0.48-0.084100.00541.08-0.09-0.55
0.43-0.084200.00541.06-0.09-0.60
0.38-0.084300.00531.03-0.09-0.66
0.33-0.074400.00500.98-0.08-0.72
0.29-0.074500.00480.93-0.08-0.77
0.21-0.064700.00410.78-0.07-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot205340370387.54054255070
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

spot1502303103754104803K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 23K call contracts, 20K 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: MAR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk