Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:02 AM ET

PTIR max pain

Spot (delayed)$23.02
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$21-8.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13±56.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.33238 puts / 724 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$18largest put OI
IV30125.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $22

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$20-13.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$22-4.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$13.45-41.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$21-8.8%172d
Fri, Jan 21$13.45-41.6%452d
Fri, Jan 19$10-56.6%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2191419253035$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 — 21 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2191317212529194194
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PTIR open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot219131721252911
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot91419253035130%102%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 107.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 2291317212529+$2K−$2K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.79-0.01160.01600.04-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01170.01720.05-0.01-0.22
0.74-0.02180.01830.05-0.01-0.24
0.72-0.02190.01930.05-0.02-0.26
0.69-0.02200.02020.05-0.02-0.29
0.67-0.02210.02100.06-0.02-0.31
0.65-0.02220.02160.06-0.02-0.33
0.62-0.02230.02220.06-0.02-0.35
0.60-0.02240.02260.06-0.02-0.38
0.58-0.02250.02290.06-0.02-0.40
0.56-0.02260.02320.06-0.02-0.42
0.54-0.02270.02330.06-0.02-0.44
0.52-0.02280.02340.06-0.02-0.46
0.50-0.02290.02340.06-0.02-0.48
0.48-0.02300.02340.06-0.02-0.49

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 23 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot11319.4525.453240.451K0
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

spot11319.4525.4531.4538.452K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 25K call contracts, 8K 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: PTIR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk