Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:15 PM ET

NWPX max pain

Spot (delayed)$97.32
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$85-12.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.05±13.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.0425 puts / 556 calls
Call wall$160largest call OI
Put wall$130largest put OI
IV3042.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$48Kper 1% move

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$105+7.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$85-12.7%53d
Fri, Mar 19$100+2.8%144d
Thu, Jun 17$100+2.8%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot855586117148179210$4M$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot855580105130160201201
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NWPX 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

spot85558010513016011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5586117148179210136%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5580105130160+$8K−$8K
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
0.96-0.02600.00290.03-0.02-0.04
0.94-0.03650.00400.04-0.03-0.05
0.93-0.03700.00570.05-0.03-0.07
0.90-0.03750.00800.07-0.03-0.10
0.86-0.04800.01120.08-0.04-0.14
0.80-0.04850.01560.11-0.04-0.20
0.71-0.05900.02080.13-0.05-0.28
0.60-0.05950.02520.15-0.05-0.40
0.47-0.051000.02630.15-0.06-0.53
0.35-0.051050.02390.14-0.05-0.65
0.27-0.051100.02010.13-0.05-0.74
0.20-0.041150.01640.11-0.04-0.81
0.16-0.041200.01320.09-0.04-0.85
0.13-0.041250.01080.08-0.04-0.89
0.10-0.031300.00880.07-0.04-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot55851101301551952010
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

spot4575105135165195201201
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 584 call contracts, 35 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: NWPX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk