Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:38 AM ET

NTSK max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.3
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$12.5-48.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.75±40.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.06339 puts / 6K calls
Call wall$22.5largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3069.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$96Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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$17.5-28.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5-48.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$10-58.8%82d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-48.6%173d
Thu, Jun 17$16-34.2%235d
Fri, Sep 17$15-38.3%327d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.551117232935$5M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12.5512.517.522.528321K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NTSK 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

spot12.5512.517.522.52832222222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot51117232935156%70%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 12.5512.517.522.52832+$24K−$24K
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
0.92-0.0112.50.01020.02-0.01-0.07
0.89-0.01140.01310.03-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.01150.01520.03-0.01-0.12
0.81-0.0117.50.02050.04-0.01-0.18
0.77-0.01190.02340.05-0.01-0.23
0.73-0.01200.02510.05-0.01-0.26
0.66-0.0122.50.02840.06-0.01-0.33
0.58-0.01250.03030.07-0.01-0.41
0.56-0.01260.03080.07-0.01-0.44
0.50-0.01280.03100.07-0.01-0.50
0.47-0.01290.03100.07-0.01-0.52
0.45-0.01300.03070.07-0.01-0.55
0.40-0.01320.03000.07-0.01-0.60
0.34-0.01350.02830.06-0.01-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.51924283519K0
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

spot181420263221K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 63K call contracts, 14K 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: NTSK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk