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 — 180 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCOM 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 ≈ 51.3% · 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
0.87
-0.05
140
0.0059
0.14
-0.07
-0.14
0.84
-0.07
145
0.0070
0.17
-0.08
-0.17
0.79
-0.08
150
0.0082
0.19
-0.09
-0.21
0.74
-0.09
155
0.0092
0.22
-0.10
-0.26
0.69
-0.10
160
0.0101
0.24
-0.11
-0.32
0.64
-0.11
165
0.0108
0.26
-0.11
-0.37
0.58
-0.12
170
0.0113
0.27
-0.12
-0.43
0.52
-0.12
175
0.0115
0.27
-0.12
-0.48
0.47
-0.12
180
0.0115
0.27
-0.12
-0.54
0.41
-0.12
185
0.0112
0.27
-0.11
-0.59
0.36
-0.11
190
0.0108
0.26
-0.11
-0.64
0.32
-0.11
195
0.0102
0.24
-0.10
-0.69
0.28
-0.10
200
0.0095
0.23
-0.09
-0.73
0.20
-0.09
210
0.0080
0.19
-0.07
-0.80
0.15
-0.07
220
0.0065
0.16
-0.05
-0.86
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
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.