Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:09 AM ET

QCML max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.35
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$8-51.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.25±62.7% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.000 puts / 20 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
IV30111.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$134per 1% move

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$18+10.1%26d
Fri, Dec 18$18+10.1%54d
Fri, Mar 19$11-32.7%145d
Thu, Jun 17$8-51.1%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot881115182225$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 — 8 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot8812182577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCML open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot8812182522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot81115182225117%108%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 106.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot8121825+$53−$53
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.85-0.0180.01420.02-0.01-0.12
0.80-0.01100.01940.03-0.01-0.16
0.74-0.01120.02390.04-0.01-0.21
0.70-0.01130.02580.04-0.01-0.24
0.54-0.01180.03010.05-0.01-0.38
0.49-0.01200.03020.05-0.01-0.43
0.38-0.01250.02850.05-0.01-0.53

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot113202734464150
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

spot11019283746422422
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 598 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: QCML workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk