Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 12:49 AM ET

QCOM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.61
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$195+13.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$33.23±19.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.99118K puts / 119K calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1.3Mper 1% move
Earnings · expectedWed, Nov 4usually after the close

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, Oct 23$177.5+2.8%today
Fri, Oct 30$177.5+2.8%7d
Fri, Nov 6$177.5+2.8%14d← 1st expiry after earnings (Wed, Nov 4)
Fri, Nov 13$175+1.4%21d
Fri, Nov 20$175+1.4%28d
Fri, Nov 27$180+4.3%35d
Fri, Dec 18$180+4.3%56d
Fri, Jan 15$195+13.0%84d
Fri, Feb 19$180+4.3%119d
Fri, Mar 19$180+4.3%147d
Fri, Apr 16$180+4.3%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot19565126187248309370$1.7B$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 — 195 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1956510514518525033017K17K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCOM open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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, Jan 15

spot19565105145185250330776776
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot65126187248309370103%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot65105145185250330+$2.5M−$2.5M
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, Jan 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.051400.00570.20-0.06-0.16
0.81-0.061450.00660.23-0.07-0.20
0.77-0.071500.00740.25-0.07-0.23
0.72-0.071550.00810.28-0.08-0.28
0.68-0.081600.00870.30-0.09-0.32
0.63-0.091650.00920.31-0.09-0.37
0.58-0.091700.00950.32-0.09-0.42
0.54-0.091750.00970.33-0.09-0.47
0.49-0.091800.00970.33-0.09-0.52
0.44-0.091850.00960.33-0.09-0.56
0.40-0.091900.00940.32-0.09-0.61
0.36-0.091950.00910.31-0.08-0.65
0.32-0.082000.00870.30-0.08-0.69
0.25-0.072100.00780.27-0.07-0.76
0.20-0.072200.00670.23-0.05-0.82

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

spot90135155177.52002358K0
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

spot65125157.5187.522530061K61K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 441K call contracts, 450K 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: QCOM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk