Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:01 AM ET

MDB max pain

Spot (delayed)$370.3
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$350-5.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$87.15±23.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.2621K puts / 16K calls
Call wall$390largest call OI
Put wall$250largest put OI
IV3065.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.3Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $440

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$360-2.8%4d
Fri, Nov 6$350-5.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$345-6.8%18d
Fri, Nov 20$350-5.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$300-19.0%32d
Fri, Dec 4$310-16.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$350-5.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$320-13.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$370-0.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$350-5.5%144d
Fri, Apr 16$300-19.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35090200310420530640$342M$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 — 350 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot350901502003004005002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MDB 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

spot350901502003004005002020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot90200310420530640192%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 75.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 440100155210310410510+$758K−$758K
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
0.81-0.263000.00240.39-0.27-0.19
0.78-0.293100.00270.43-0.29-0.22
0.75-0.313200.00290.46-0.31-0.25
0.72-0.333300.00310.49-0.33-0.28
0.68-0.353400.00330.52-0.35-0.32
0.65-0.363500.00340.54-0.36-0.36
0.61-0.373600.00350.56-0.37-0.39
0.57-0.383700.00360.57-0.38-0.43
0.54-0.383800.00370.58-0.39-0.47
0.50-0.383900.00370.58-0.39-0.50
0.47-0.384000.00370.58-0.39-0.54
0.43-0.384100.00370.57-0.38-0.57
0.40-0.374200.00360.56-0.37-0.60
0.37-0.364300.00350.55-0.36-0.64
0.34-0.344400.00340.53-0.35-0.67

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1702603253654054601K0
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

spot901652603554505808K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 176K call contracts, 105K 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: MDB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk