Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:20 AM ET

MST max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.53
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$12-4.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.75±53.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI1.2972 puts / 56 calls
Call wall$12largest call OI
Put wall$9largest put OI
IV30144.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$92per 1% move · flip ≈ $12

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$12-4.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$12-4.2%54d
Fri, Feb 19$12-4.2%117d
Fri, May 21$10-20.2%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1251117232935$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 — 12 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot12591215352323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MST open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot125912153511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot51117232935157%80%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 120.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 1259121535+$104−$104
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0250.01890.01-0.01-0.09
0.85-0.0270.03140.01-0.01-0.14
0.81-0.0280.03840.02-0.01-0.18
0.76-0.0190.04480.02-0.01-0.22
0.70-0.01100.05000.02-0.01-0.27
0.64-0.01110.05300.02-0.01-0.32
0.58-0.01120.05380.03-0.01-0.36
0.53-0.01130.05280.03-0.01-0.40
0.48-0.01140.05100.03-0.01-0.44
0.44-0.01150.04880.03-0.01-0.47
0.31-0.01200.03860.02-0.01-0.58
0.24-0.01250.03140.02-0.01-0.65
0.17-0.01350.02270.02-0.01-0.72

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

spot913172127451720
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

spot1815222936173173
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 381 call contracts, 270 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: MST workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk