Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:27 PM ET

SHLS max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.58
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$7-7.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.65±48.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.0168 puts / 7K calls
Call wall$12largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV3099.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$32Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $8

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$9+18.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$6-20.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$6-20.8%81d
Fri, Feb 19$9+18.7%116d
Fri, Mar 19$7-7.7%144d
Fri, Apr 16$7-7.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot73610131720$6M$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 — 7 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot73581013207K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SHLS 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

spot735810132011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3610131720118%82%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 87.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 8358101320+$32K−$32K
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
0.94-0.0030.01970.01-0.00-0.06
0.90-0.0040.03380.01-0.00-0.10
0.83-0.0050.05060.01-0.00-0.16
0.67-0.0170.07820.02-0.01-0.33
0.59-0.0180.08440.02-0.01-0.41
0.51-0.0190.08600.02-0.01-0.49
0.45-0.01100.08450.02-0.01-0.55
0.34-0.01120.07670.02-0.01-0.66
0.30-0.01130.07190.02-0.01-0.70
0.24-0.00150.06240.02-0.00-0.78
0.14-0.00200.04320.01-0.00-0.89

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

spot15913172312K0
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

spot15913172116K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 60K call contracts, 27K 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: SHLS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk