Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 12:38 AM ET

PL max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.94
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$17+31.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.85±45.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.552K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$18largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3070.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $18

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$14.5+12.1%today
Fri, Oct 30$15+15.9%7d
Fri, Nov 6$14.5+12.1%14d
Fri, Nov 13$16+23.6%21d
Fri, Nov 20$17+31.4%28d
Fri, Nov 27$15+15.9%35d
Fri, Dec 18$17+31.4%56d
Fri, Jan 15$20+54.6%84d
Fri, Apr 16$17+31.4%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1791419253035$6M$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot17914192429809809
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PL 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

spot17914192429120120
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot91419253035102%67%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 82.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 18914192429+$6K−$6K
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
0.84-0.0190.03210.02-0.01-0.17
0.79-0.01100.03800.03-0.01-0.21
0.74-0.01110.04330.03-0.01-0.27
0.69-0.01120.04750.03-0.01-0.32
0.64-0.01130.05070.03-0.01-0.37
0.59-0.01140.05280.04-0.01-0.42
0.54-0.01150.05380.04-0.01-0.47
0.50-0.01160.05400.04-0.01-0.52
0.45-0.01170.05350.04-0.01-0.57
0.41-0.01180.05250.04-0.01-0.61
0.38-0.01190.05100.04-0.01-0.65
0.35-0.01200.04930.03-0.01-0.68

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot612151821264K0
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

spot311.51722.5334418K18K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 162K call contracts, 70K 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: PL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk