Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 2:46 AM ET

PRN max pain

Spot (delayed)$193.41
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$225+16.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.5±10.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.3821 puts / 55 calls
Call wall$240largest call OI
Put wall$235largest put OI
IV3035.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $155

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$195+0.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$225+16.3%53d
Fri, Mar 19$215+11.2%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot225130166202238274310$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 — 225 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2251301852002252653102121
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRN open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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 18

spot22513018520022526531011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13016620223827431082%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 155130185200225265310+$4K−$4K
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 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.031300.00170.06-0.03-0.04
0.94-0.041400.00260.08-0.04-0.05
0.90-0.061550.00480.13-0.06-0.10
0.72-0.091800.01180.26-0.09-0.28
0.66-0.091850.01340.28-0.09-0.34
0.51-0.091950.01540.30-0.09-0.49
0.48-0.091970.01550.30-0.09-0.52
0.45-0.091990.01550.30-0.09-0.55
0.43-0.092000.01540.30-0.09-0.57
0.36-0.082050.01470.28-0.09-0.64
0.30-0.082100.01350.26-0.08-0.71
0.24-0.072150.01200.24-0.07-0.76
0.16-0.062250.00910.19-0.06-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot130199220240300210
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

spot1101651902052603154141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 66 call contracts, 76 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: PRN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk