Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:02 PM ET

MXL max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.75
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$75+17.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.3±30.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.0915K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$95largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3097.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$390Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $31

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$75+17.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$75+17.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$90+41.2%82d
Fri, Mar 19$75+17.6%145d
Thu, Jun 17$80+25.5%235d
Fri, Jan 21$90+41.2%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot75144882117151185$125M$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 — 75 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot75143047801151604K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MXL 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

spot7514304780115160374374
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot144882117151185164%85%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 96.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 3114304780115160+$229K−$229K
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
0.93-0.03380.00520.04-0.03-0.07
0.91-0.04400.00620.04-0.04-0.09
0.86-0.05450.00880.06-0.05-0.14
0.83-0.06470.00990.06-0.06-0.17
0.80-0.06500.01150.07-0.06-0.20
0.72-0.07550.01390.08-0.07-0.28
0.64-0.08600.01560.09-0.08-0.36
0.56-0.08650.01670.10-0.08-0.45
0.48-0.08700.01690.10-0.08-0.53
0.40-0.08750.01650.10-0.08-0.60
0.34-0.08800.01560.09-0.08-0.67
0.28-0.07850.01430.08-0.07-0.73
0.23-0.06900.01290.08-0.07-0.78
0.19-0.06950.01150.07-0.06-0.82
0.16-0.051000.01010.06-0.05-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot143050851201554K0
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

spot142536471001555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 30K 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: MXL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk