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 — 23 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QNDX 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 ≈ 23.7% · 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
0.91
-0.01
19
0.0356
0.02
-0.01
-0.09
0.89
-0.01
20
0.0483
0.02
-0.01
-0.12
0.85
-0.01
21
0.0679
0.02
-0.01
-0.15
0.80
-0.01
22
0.0995
0.03
-0.01
-0.20
0.71
-0.01
23
0.1519
0.03
-0.01
-0.30
0.55
-0.01
24
0.2137
0.04
-0.01
-0.48
0.35
-0.01
25
0.1893
0.04
-0.01
-0.69
0.24
-0.01
26
0.1326
0.03
-0.01
-0.80
0.11
-0.01
30
0.0470
0.02
-0.01
-0.93
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
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.