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

OZK max pain

Spot (delayed)$45
Max pain · Fri, May 21$45+0.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.95±17.7% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI5.63462 puts / 82 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3029.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$21Kper 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

spot45303641475258$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot453037.542.547.552.557.5407407
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OZK open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot453037.542.547.552.557.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot30364147525840%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spot3037.542.55055+$25K−$25K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.00300.00930.04-0.00-0.07
0.88-0.00350.01810.07-0.01-0.14
0.82-0.0137.50.02420.09-0.01-0.19
0.75-0.01400.03040.11-0.01-0.27
0.67-0.0142.50.03620.12-0.01-0.35
0.57-0.01450.04080.13-0.01-0.45
0.47-0.0147.50.04260.14-0.01-0.55
0.37-0.01500.04110.13-0.01-0.65
0.28-0.0152.50.03690.12-0.01-0.74
0.21-0.01550.03150.10-0.00-0.81
0.16-0.0157.50.02590.08-0.00-0.86

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