Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:11 AM ET

PRAX max pain

Spot (delayed)$252.96
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$240-5.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$108±42.7% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.533K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$450largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3092.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$400Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $350

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$290+14.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$320+26.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$300+18.6%82d
Fri, Feb 19$240-5.1%117d
Fri, May 21$200-20.9%208d
Thu, Jun 17$350+38.4%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot240125216307398489580$118M$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 — 240 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot2401252102803504305302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRAX open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot2401252102803504305305353
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot125216307398489580107%87%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 95.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 350125210280350430530+$248K−$248K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.81-0.171850.00190.40-0.17-0.20
0.78-0.181950.00210.43-0.18-0.22
0.77-0.182000.00220.44-0.18-0.23
0.74-0.192100.00230.47-0.20-0.26
0.71-0.202200.00240.49-0.20-0.29
0.69-0.212300.00260.52-0.21-0.32
0.66-0.212400.00270.53-0.22-0.35
0.63-0.222500.00270.55-0.22-0.38
0.60-0.222600.00280.56-0.23-0.40
0.58-0.232700.00290.57-0.23-0.43
0.55-0.232800.00290.57-0.23-0.46
0.52-0.232900.00290.58-0.23-0.49
0.50-0.233000.00300.58-0.23-0.51
0.47-0.233100.00300.58-0.23-0.54
0.45-0.223200.00290.57-0.23-0.56

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot851552002903704501K0
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

spot851401953004105302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 10K 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: PRAX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk