Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:18 AM ET

PANG max pain

Spot (delayed)$34.47
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$25-27.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.55±50.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.3356 puts / 171 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV30123.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22

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$27-21.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$25-27.5%54d
Fri, Feb 19$25-27.5%117d
Fri, May 21$27-21.7%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25122333445465$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot251220253239655555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PANG 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

spot2512202532396511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot122333445465157%97%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 117.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 22122025323965+$836−$836
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
0.76-0.03250.01440.06-0.03-0.22
0.72-0.03270.01540.06-0.03-0.25
0.70-0.03280.01580.06-0.03-0.27
0.69-0.03290.01620.06-0.03-0.29
0.67-0.04300.01660.07-0.03-0.30
0.63-0.04320.01720.07-0.03-0.34
0.61-0.04330.01750.07-0.03-0.36
0.59-0.04340.01770.07-0.03-0.37
0.57-0.04350.01780.07-0.03-0.39
0.56-0.04360.01800.07-0.03-0.41
0.51-0.04390.01820.07-0.04-0.45
0.49-0.04400.01820.07-0.03-0.47
0.42-0.04450.01790.07-0.03-0.54
0.35-0.03500.01700.07-0.03-0.60
0.29-0.03550.01590.07-0.03-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot115212834401000
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

spot11019283746113113
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 968 call contracts, 438 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: PANG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk