Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:25 AM ET

POET max pain

Spot (delayed)$5.68
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$6+5.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.23±21.7% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.5724 puts / 42 calls
Call wall$6largest call OI
Put wall$5.5largest put OI
IV3084.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$161per 1% move · flip ≈ $6

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$5.5-3.2%2d
Fri, Nov 6$6+5.6%9d
Fri, Nov 13$5.5-3.2%16d
Fri, Nov 20$7+23.2%23d
Fri, Nov 27$6.5+14.4%30d
Fri, Dec 4$6+5.6%37d
Fri, Dec 18$6+5.6%51d
Fri, Jan 15$5-12.0%79d
Fri, Apr 16$7+23.2%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot64567910$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 — 6 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot63.55.56.57.5101515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)POET open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot63.55.56.57.5101010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot4567910123%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 85.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 63.55.56.57.510+$116−$116
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.003.50.05780.00-0.00-0.06
0.73-0.0150.20530.01-0.01-0.27
0.61-0.015.50.24650.01-0.01-0.39
0.49-0.0160.25740.01-0.01-0.52
0.38-0.016.50.24130.01-0.01-0.63
0.28-0.0170.21120.01-0.01-0.72
0.22-0.017.50.17760.01-0.01-0.79
0.17-0.0180.14630.01-0.01-0.84
0.06-0.00100.06480.00-0.00-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot24.579.512155K0
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

spot15.510152433137K137K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 932K call contracts, 105K 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: POET workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk