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

NWPX max pain

Spot (delayed)$97.32
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$100+2.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.7±21.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.5010 puts / 20 calls
Call wall$125largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3042.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $125

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

spot100657891104117130$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot1006575851101251616
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NWPX open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot10065758511012511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot65789110411713064%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 125657585110125+$2K−$2K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.02650.00460.10-0.02-0.09
0.88-0.02700.00600.12-0.02-0.12
0.85-0.02750.00760.14-0.03-0.15
0.81-0.03800.00950.17-0.03-0.20
0.76-0.03850.01160.20-0.03-0.25
0.54-0.031000.01570.24-0.04-0.47
0.40-0.031100.01480.24-0.04-0.62
0.34-0.031150.01370.23-0.04-0.68
0.26-0.031250.01140.20-0.04-0.77
0.23-0.031300.01030.19-0.03-0.81

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

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