Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 11:35 PM ET

SHOE max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.25
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$15+5.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.2±22.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.74430 puts / 578 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3075.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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$15+5.3%23d
Fri, Dec 18$15+5.3%51d
Fri, Mar 19$10-29.8%142d
Thu, Jun 17$12.5-12.3%232d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1551015202530$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot15510152025280280
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SHOE 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

spot155101520252929
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot51015202530229%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 71.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 17.5510152025+$3K−$3K
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 ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.0050.00680.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.007.50.01690.00-0.00-0.04
0.90-0.01100.04190.01-0.01-0.10
0.73-0.0112.50.08870.02-0.01-0.27
0.47-0.01150.10330.02-0.01-0.52
0.28-0.0117.50.08050.02-0.01-0.71
0.18-0.01200.05710.01-0.01-0.81
0.12-0.0122.50.04040.01-0.01-0.87
0.08-0.01250.02910.01-0.01-0.91
0.04-0.01300.01610.01-0.00-0.95

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

spot7.512.517.522.5309610
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53012K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 13K 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: SHOE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk