Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 1:44 AM ET

PATH max pain

Spot (delayed)$13.82
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$12-13.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.45±32.2% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.308K puts / 27K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3052.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$243Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $8

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 23$13-5.9%today
Fri, Oct 30$13.5-2.3%7d
Fri, Nov 6$13-5.9%14d
Fri, Nov 13$14+1.3%21d
Fri, Nov 20$13.5-2.3%28d
Fri, Nov 27$12.5-9.6%35d
Fri, Dec 18$13-5.9%56d
Fri, Jan 15$12-13.2%84d
Fri, Feb 19$17+23.0%119d
Fri, Mar 19$12-13.2%147d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot123916222935$53M$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 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot12381216203515K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PATH open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot1238121620352K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3916222935190%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 83812162035+$195K−$195K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0070.01370.01-0.00-0.04
0.93-0.0080.02090.01-0.00-0.07
0.90-0.0090.02980.02-0.00-0.10
0.85-0.00100.03960.02-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01110.04920.03-0.01-0.21
0.73-0.01120.05770.03-0.01-0.27
0.66-0.01130.06410.03-0.01-0.34
0.60-0.01140.06810.03-0.01-0.41
0.53-0.01150.06980.04-0.01-0.48
0.47-0.01160.06940.04-0.01-0.55
0.41-0.01170.06740.04-0.01-0.60
0.36-0.01180.06440.03-0.01-0.66
0.32-0.01190.06070.03-0.01-0.70
0.28-0.01200.05670.03-0.01-0.75
0.21-0.01220.04840.03-0.01-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot59.512.515.518.521.512K0
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

spot39.513.517.521.53062K62K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 381K call contracts, 187K 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: PATH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk