Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:27 PM ET

NXPI max pain

Spot (delayed)$245.83
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$230-6.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$62.95±25.6% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI2.17895 puts / 413 calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$210largest put OI
IV3055.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$84Kper 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$230-6.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$240-2.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$260+5.8%81d
Fri, Mar 19$250+1.7%144d
Fri, Apr 16$230-6.4%172d
Thu, Jun 17$260+5.8%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot230115164213262311360$8M$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 — 230 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot230115145185220270320362362
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NXPI 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

spot2301151451852202703201414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot11516421326231136066%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot115145185220270320+$84K−$84K
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
0.83-0.051900.00300.42-0.06-0.17
0.81-0.061950.00320.45-0.06-0.19
0.79-0.062000.00350.48-0.07-0.21
0.75-0.072100.00390.53-0.07-0.25
0.70-0.072200.00430.58-0.08-0.30
0.66-0.082300.00460.61-0.08-0.35
0.61-0.082400.00480.64-0.09-0.40
0.56-0.092500.00500.66-0.09-0.45
0.51-0.092600.00510.67-0.09-0.50
0.46-0.092700.00510.66-0.09-0.55
0.42-0.092800.00500.65-0.09-0.59
0.37-0.082900.00490.63-0.08-0.64
0.33-0.083000.00470.61-0.08-0.68
0.29-0.073100.00450.58-0.07-0.72
0.26-0.073200.00420.54-0.07-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot9514018526035044066K0
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

spot8012517023032041066K66K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 172K call contracts, 23K 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: NXPI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk