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.
■ 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 — 18 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCML 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
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 116.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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 Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.92
-0.02
9
0.0225
0.01
-0.01
-0.09
0.89
-0.02
10
0.0280
0.01
-0.01
-0.12
0.85
-0.02
11
0.0337
0.01
-0.02
-0.15
0.81
-0.02
12
0.0398
0.02
-0.02
-0.19
0.75
-0.02
13
0.0455
0.02
-0.02
-0.24
0.70
-0.02
14
0.0502
0.02
-0.02
-0.29
0.64
-0.02
15
0.0537
0.02
-0.02
-0.35
0.58
-0.03
16
0.0558
0.02
-0.02
-0.40
0.52
-0.03
17
0.0566
0.03
-0.02
-0.46
0.47
-0.03
18
0.0563
0.03
-0.02
-0.51
0.42
-0.03
19
0.0550
0.03
-0.02
-0.55
0.38
-0.02
20
0.0531
0.02
-0.02
-0.59
0.34
-0.02
21
0.0507
0.02
-0.02
-0.63
0.30
-0.02
22
0.0480
0.02
-0.02
-0.67
0.27
-0.02
23
0.0452
0.02
-0.02
-0.70
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 42 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.