Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:04 AM ET

OMAB max pain

Spot (delayed)$98.52
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$100+1.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.9±15.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.4945 puts / 92 calls
Call wall$120largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3027.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $75

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$95-3.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$105+6.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$105+6.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$100+1.5%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot100708396109122135$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, Apr 16

spot10070851001151301717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OMAB 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

spot100708510011513011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot70839610912213552%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 757085100115130+$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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.01700.00570.11-0.01-0.10
0.90-0.01750.00760.14-0.02-0.13
0.86-0.02800.01000.16-0.02-0.16
0.82-0.02850.01310.19-0.02-0.22
0.75-0.02900.01680.22-0.02-0.29
0.66-0.02950.02080.25-0.02-0.39
0.55-0.021000.02380.27-0.02-0.53
0.44-0.021050.02420.27-0.02-0.67
0.34-0.021100.02210.25-0.02-0.79
0.26-0.021150.01880.22-0.02-0.87
0.20-0.011200.01560.19-0.01-0.92
0.16-0.011250.01290.17-0.01-0.95
0.13-0.011300.01070.15-0.01-0.96
0.11-0.011350.00900.13-0.00-0.98

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

spot5590105120135150590
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

spot4565851051251457070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 403 call contracts, 166 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: OMAB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk