Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:59 PM ET

PTF max pain

Spot (delayed)$105.71
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$105-0.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.75±17.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.66523 puts / 796 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3060.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$61Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $102

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$104-1.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$105-0.7%54d
Fri, Mar 19$85-19.6%145d
Thu, Jun 17$80-24.3%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1054576107138169200$7M$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1054585100110125165197197
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PTF 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

spot105458510011012516511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot4576107138169200110%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 1024585100110125165+$36K−$36K
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
0.72-0.08950.01280.14-0.08-0.28
0.70-0.08960.01320.14-0.08-0.30
0.66-0.08990.01440.15-0.08-0.34
0.65-0.081000.01480.15-0.08-0.35
0.61-0.081020.01550.16-0.08-0.39
0.58-0.081040.01620.16-0.09-0.42
0.57-0.081050.01650.16-0.08-0.44
0.55-0.081060.01670.16-0.08-0.45
0.53-0.081070.01700.17-0.08-0.47
0.52-0.081080.01720.17-0.08-0.49
0.50-0.081090.01740.17-0.08-0.51
0.48-0.081100.01750.17-0.08-0.52
0.46-0.081110.01760.16-0.08-0.54
0.44-0.081120.01760.16-0.08-0.56
0.43-0.081130.01770.16-0.08-0.58

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot50901021101191552000
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

spot458899110121175200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 845 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: PTF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk