Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:45 PM ET

MAT max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.57
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$15-9.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.97±23.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.94953 puts / 491 calls
Call wall$17largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3047.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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$15-9.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$16-3.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$15-9.5%82d
Fri, Feb 19$16-3.4%117d
Fri, Mar 19$16-3.4%145d
Fri, Apr 16$15-9.5%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101316192225$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot15101214161825882882
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MAT 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

spot1510121416182522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot10131619222566%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 15101214161825+$18K−$18K
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
0.92-0.00100.02080.02-0.00-0.08
0.89-0.00110.02760.02-0.00-0.10
0.87-0.00120.03660.02-0.00-0.13
0.83-0.00130.04830.03-0.00-0.17
0.77-0.00140.06240.03-0.00-0.23
0.70-0.00150.07730.04-0.00-0.30
0.62-0.00160.08890.04-0.01-0.39
0.53-0.01170.09330.04-0.01-0.48
0.44-0.01180.09050.04-0.01-0.57
0.32-0.01200.07550.04-0.01-0.71
0.16-0.00250.04280.03-0.00-0.88

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

spot1914192450K0
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

spot171319253251K51K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 227K call contracts, 95K 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: MAT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk