Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:13 PM ET

QTUM max pain

Spot (delayed)$136.39
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$115-15.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.7±18.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.99407 puts / 411 calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3034.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $115

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, Nov 20$140+2.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$120-12.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$140+2.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$115-15.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot11590117144171198225$3M$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 — 115 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot11590130146154165205298298
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QTUM 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

spot1159013014615416520511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot9011714417119822547%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 11590130146154165205+$40K−$40K
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
0.89-0.021000.00450.18-0.02-0.12
0.87-0.021050.00540.21-0.03-0.14
0.84-0.021100.00650.23-0.03-0.17
0.81-0.031150.00770.26-0.03-0.20
0.77-0.031200.00900.29-0.03-0.24
0.72-0.031250.01030.32-0.03-0.29
0.67-0.031300.01150.34-0.04-0.35
0.60-0.031350.01260.36-0.04-0.41
0.54-0.031400.01320.37-0.04-0.48
0.53-0.031410.01330.37-0.04-0.50
0.52-0.031420.01330.37-0.04-0.51
0.50-0.031430.01340.37-0.04-0.53
0.49-0.031440.01340.37-0.04-0.54
0.48-0.031450.01340.37-0.04-0.55
0.46-0.031460.01340.37-0.04-0.57

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

spot601121381481602101K0
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

spot701101361481602003K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 5K 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: QTUM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk