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

QCOM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.61
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$180+4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$39.53±22.9% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.8613K puts / 15K calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$599Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $240
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

spot18080122164206248290$115M$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 — 180 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot180801101401702002604K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCOM open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot18080110140170200260662662
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot8012216420624829075%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 50.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 24080110140170200260+$501K−$501K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.051400.00530.26-0.05-0.18
0.79-0.051450.00590.29-0.06-0.22
0.75-0.061500.00650.31-0.06-0.25
0.71-0.061550.00700.34-0.07-0.29
0.67-0.071600.00740.36-0.07-0.33
0.63-0.071650.00770.37-0.08-0.37
0.59-0.071700.00790.38-0.08-0.41
0.55-0.081750.00810.39-0.08-0.45
0.52-0.081800.00820.39-0.08-0.49
0.48-0.081850.00810.39-0.08-0.53
0.44-0.081900.00800.39-0.08-0.57
0.41-0.081950.00790.38-0.08-0.61
0.37-0.072000.00770.37-0.07-0.64
0.31-0.072100.00710.35-0.07-0.71
0.26-0.072200.00650.32-0.06-0.76

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 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