Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 1:10 AM ET

OZK max pain

Spot (delayed)$45
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$50+11.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.08±13.5% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI3.08814 puts / 264 calls
Call wall$52.5largest call OI
Put wall$37.5largest put OI
IV3029.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$30Kper 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, Oct 16$45+0.0%2d
Fri, Nov 20$47.5+5.6%37d
Fri, Jan 15$50+11.1%93d
Fri, Feb 19$50+11.1%128d
Fri, May 21$45+0.0%219d
Fri, Aug 20$42.5-5.6%310d
Fri, Jan 21$40-11.1%464d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50283441475460$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot5027.537.542.547.552.557.5506506
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OZK open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot5027.537.542.547.552.557.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot28344147546057%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot27.537.542.547.552.557.5+$27K−$27K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0027.50.00600.02-0.01-0.05
0.91-0.01350.01710.04-0.01-0.10
0.87-0.0137.50.02530.06-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01400.03650.07-0.01-0.22
0.69-0.0142.50.04740.09-0.01-0.33
0.56-0.01450.05460.10-0.01-0.46
0.42-0.0147.50.05560.10-0.01-0.59
0.30-0.01500.04980.09-0.01-0.72
0.20-0.0152.50.03980.07-0.01-0.81
0.14-0.01550.02990.06-0.01-0.88
0.10-0.0157.50.02260.05-0.00-0.91
0.08-0.01600.01780.04-0.00-0.94

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

spot203542.55057.5702K0
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

spot2030405060757K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 21K 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: OZK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk