Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:12 AM ET

PI max pain

Spot (delayed)$167.07
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$175+4.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$62.15±37.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.8372 puts / 87 calls
Call wall$200largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3087.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$180+7.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$135-19.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$150-10.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$175+4.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17585124163202241280$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 — 175 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot175851201501802102803333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PI open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot175851201501802102801010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot8512416320224128077%67%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 11085120150180210280+$3K−$3K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.061200.00300.29-0.06-0.17
0.81-0.061250.00330.31-0.06-0.19
0.79-0.071300.00350.34-0.07-0.21
0.77-0.071350.00380.35-0.07-0.24
0.74-0.071400.00400.37-0.08-0.26
0.70-0.081500.00430.41-0.08-0.31
0.67-0.081550.00450.42-0.08-0.33
0.62-0.091650.00480.44-0.09-0.38
0.60-0.091700.00490.45-0.09-0.41
0.57-0.091750.00490.45-0.09-0.43
0.55-0.091800.00500.46-0.09-0.46
0.53-0.091850.00500.46-0.09-0.48
0.51-0.091900.00510.46-0.09-0.51
0.48-0.091950.00510.46-0.09-0.53
0.46-0.092000.00510.46-0.09-0.55

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

spot47.5901201602002805520
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

spot47.590125170230320556556
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 1K 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: PI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk