Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:03 AM ET

SCI max pain

Spot (delayed)$82.36
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$70-15.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.95±13.3% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.1238 puts / 320 calls
Call wall$95largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3028.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$46Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$80-2.9%24d
Fri, Dec 18$80-2.9%52d
Fri, Jan 15$75-8.9%80d
Fri, Mar 19$70-15.0%143d
Thu, Jun 17$72.5-12.0%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot704356708397110$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 — 70 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot7042.57077.58592.5105195195
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SCI open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot7042.57077.58592.510511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot435670839711079%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 5042.57077.58592.5105+$31K−$31K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.00500.00310.04-0.01-0.04
0.90-0.01650.01010.10-0.01-0.11
0.84-0.01700.01480.13-0.01-0.17
0.81-0.0172.50.01790.14-0.01-0.20
0.76-0.01750.02130.16-0.02-0.25
0.71-0.0277.50.02490.18-0.02-0.31
0.65-0.02800.02820.19-0.02-0.37
0.57-0.0282.50.03070.20-0.02-0.45
0.50-0.02850.03180.20-0.02-0.53
0.42-0.0287.50.03130.20-0.02-0.61
0.35-0.02900.02940.19-0.02-0.69
0.29-0.0192.50.02670.18-0.01-0.75
0.24-0.01950.02370.16-0.01-0.80
0.17-0.011000.01820.14-0.01-0.88
0.13-0.011050.01390.11-0.01-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4572.582.592.51102K0
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

spot40557082.5951202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 2K 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: SCI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk