Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 2:50 PM ET

PODD max pain

Spot (delayed)$146.96
Max pain · Fri, Dec 17$130-11.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$57.8±39.3% by Fri, Dec 17
Put/Call OI0.80251 puts / 312 calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$150largest put OI
IV3055.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$140-4.7%28d
Fri, Dec 18$150+2.1%56d
Fri, Mar 19$135-8.1%147d
Thu, Jun 17$110-25.1%237d
Fri, Dec 17$130-11.5%420d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1306598131164197230$3M$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot1306595120145180220106106
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PODD open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 17.

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, Dec 17

spot130659512014518022011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spot659813116419723063%42%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 17

spotflip 806595120145180220+$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, Dec 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.021100.00340.41-0.02-0.18
0.80-0.021150.00360.44-0.03-0.21
0.78-0.021200.00390.47-0.03-0.23
0.76-0.021250.00420.50-0.03-0.26
0.73-0.021300.00440.52-0.03-0.28
0.71-0.031350.00460.55-0.03-0.31
0.68-0.031400.00490.57-0.03-0.34
0.66-0.031450.00500.58-0.03-0.37
0.63-0.031500.00520.60-0.03-0.40
0.60-0.031550.00540.61-0.03-0.42
0.58-0.031600.00550.62-0.03-0.45
0.53-0.031700.00560.63-0.03-0.51
0.48-0.031800.00560.63-0.03-0.57
0.43-0.031900.00560.62-0.03-0.63
0.41-0.031950.00560.61-0.03-0.65

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot751201602002803609460
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

spot65115165230330430959959
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 5K 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: PODD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk