Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 10:07 AM ET

S max pain

Spot (delayed)$25.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$16-37.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.4±17.3% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI0.011 puts / 79 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$21largest put OI
IV3055.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$22.5-11.8%3d
Fri, Nov 6$22.5-11.8%10d
Fri, Nov 13$22.5-11.8%17d
Fri, Nov 20$23-9.8%24d
Fri, Nov 27$22-13.7%31d
Fri, Dec 4$16-37.3%38d
Fri, Dec 18$18-29.4%52d
Fri, Jan 15$15-41.2%80d
Fri, Mar 19$20-21.6%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot16161922252831$1M$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 — 16 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot1616212425.526.5305252
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)S open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot1616212425.526.5305252
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot20222426283171%65%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot16212425.526.530+$2K−$2K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.01160.01280.01-0.01-0.05
0.87-0.02200.03420.02-0.02-0.13
0.83-0.02210.04240.02-0.02-0.17
0.68-0.0323.50.06260.03-0.03-0.31
0.65-0.03240.06560.03-0.03-0.35
0.58-0.03250.07000.03-0.03-0.42
0.54-0.0325.50.07120.03-0.03-0.45
0.51-0.03260.07170.03-0.03-0.49
0.47-0.0326.50.07160.03-0.03-0.52
0.44-0.03270.07090.03-0.03-0.56
0.27-0.02300.05840.03-0.02-0.73
0.24-0.0230.50.05550.03-0.02-0.76

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

spot1316.5202326294K0
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

spot3131822.5273231K31K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 182K call contracts, 53K 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: S workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk