Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:14 PM ET

NVAX max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.79
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$9-8.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4±40.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.254K puts / 18K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$9largest put OI
IV3093.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$79Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $4

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$11+12.4%5d
Fri, Nov 6$10+2.2%12d
Fri, Nov 13$11+12.4%19d
Fri, Nov 20$11+12.4%26d
Fri, Nov 27$13+32.8%33d
Fri, Dec 4$10+2.2%40d
Fri, Dec 18$11+12.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$10+2.2%82d
Fri, Apr 16$9-8.1%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot91611162126$19M$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 — 9 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot9171115235K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NVAX 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

spot917111523142142
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1611162126250%66%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 417111523+$25K−$25K
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
0.99-0.0010.00210.00-0.00-0.01
0.94-0.0040.01580.01-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.0050.02420.01-0.00-0.09
0.87-0.0060.03480.01-0.00-0.14
0.82-0.0070.04660.02-0.00-0.19
0.75-0.0180.05760.02-0.01-0.26
0.68-0.0190.06600.02-0.01-0.33
0.61-0.01100.07100.03-0.01-0.40
0.54-0.01110.07300.03-0.01-0.47
0.48-0.01120.07270.03-0.01-0.53
0.43-0.01130.07090.03-0.01-0.59
0.39-0.01140.06810.03-0.01-0.64
0.34-0.01150.06490.03-0.01-0.68
0.31-0.01160.06140.02-0.01-0.72
0.20-0.01200.04760.02-0.01-0.83

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3.58.511.514.518265K0
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

spot15.59.513.517.521.536K36K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 165K call contracts, 90K 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: NVAX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk