Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:18 PM ET

OPRA max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.35
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$12.5-28.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.53±43.4% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.0957 puts / 624 calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3046.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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$17-2.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$15-13.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-28.0%81d
Fri, Apr 16$18+3.7%172d
Thu, Jun 17$17.5+0.9%234d
Fri, Dec 17$12.5-28.0%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.5101520253035$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot12.51015202532229229
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OPRA open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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 17

spot12.5101520253211
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot10152025303578%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 52.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 12.51015202532+$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, Dec 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.89-0.00100.01790.03-0.00-0.12
0.82-0.0012.50.02740.05-0.00-0.20
0.73-0.00150.03640.06-0.00-0.29
0.62-0.0017.50.04240.07-0.00-0.40
0.53-0.00200.04480.07-0.00-0.51
0.44-0.0022.50.04420.07-0.00-0.60
0.36-0.00250.04180.07-0.00-0.68
0.26-0.00300.03500.06-0.00-0.81
0.22-0.00320.03220.05-0.00-0.85
0.18-0.00350.02810.050.00-0.89

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

spot7.515182225323K0
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

spot2.510141822.5273K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 7K 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: OPRA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk