Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 5:53 PM ET

OKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$92.28
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$85-7.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.3±16.6% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.2094 puts / 476 calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$80largest put OI
IV3030.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$64Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $85

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 16$90-2.5%2d
Fri, Nov 20$90-2.5%37d
Fri, Dec 18$90-2.5%65d
Fri, Jan 15$80-13.3%93d
Fri, Mar 19$85-7.9%156d
Fri, Apr 16$85-7.9%184d
Thu, Jun 17$85-7.9%246d
Fri, Sep 17$85-7.9%338d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8555698397111125$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot85557085100115179179
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OKE 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

spot8555708510011544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot5569839711112539%28%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 85557085100115+$29K−$29K
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—550.00130.01-0.00-0.02
0.98—600.00340.03-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.00650.00580.07-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01700.00820.10-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.01750.01150.15-0.01-0.15
0.79-0.01800.01520.19-0.02-0.23
0.70-0.02850.01840.22-0.02-0.32
0.59-0.02900.02050.25-0.02-0.42
0.49-0.02950.02120.26-0.02-0.53
0.40-0.021000.02040.25-0.02-0.63
0.31-0.021050.01870.23-0.02-0.71
0.24-0.011100.01630.20-0.01-0.79
0.18-0.011150.01370.17-0.01-0.85
0.10-0.011250.00900.12-0.00-0.94

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

spot50759010512013513K0
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

spot35608510013016017K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 83K call contracts, 27K 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: OKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk