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

QCOM max pain

Spot (delayed)$172.61
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$180+4.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$46.5±26.9% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.174K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$195largest call OI
Put wall$125largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $270
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

spot18085126167208249290$29M$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, Apr 16

spot18085115145175210270697697
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QCOM open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot18085115145175210270154154
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot8512616720824929061%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 27085115145175210270+$75K−$75K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.80-0.041400.00490.34-0.05-0.21
0.77-0.051450.00530.37-0.05-0.24
0.73-0.051500.00560.39-0.05-0.27
0.70-0.051550.00600.41-0.06-0.30
0.67-0.061600.00630.43-0.06-0.34
0.64-0.061650.00650.45-0.06-0.37
0.60-0.061700.00670.46-0.06-0.41
0.57-0.061750.00680.47-0.06-0.44
0.54-0.061800.00680.47-0.06-0.47
0.50-0.061850.00690.47-0.06-0.51
0.47-0.061900.00680.47-0.06-0.54
0.44-0.061950.00680.47-0.06-0.57
0.41-0.062000.00670.46-0.06-0.60
0.36-0.062100.00640.45-0.06-0.65
0.31-0.062200.00600.42-0.06-0.71

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 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