Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:11 AM ET

SLDP max pain

Spot (delayed)$2
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$2+0.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.7±35.0% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.36169 puts / 471 calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$2largest put OI
IV3098.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$316per 1% move · flip ≈ $2

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$2+0.0%24d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5+25.0%52d
Fri, Jan 15$3+50.0%80d
Fri, Feb 19$2+0.0%115d
Fri, May 21$2.5+25.0%206d
Fri, Jan 21$2+0.0%451d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2123456$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 — 2 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot20.51.52.53.54.55.5172172
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SLDP open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot20.51.52.53.54.55.51212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot223456133%75%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 20.51.52.53.54.55.5+$267−$267
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.970.000.50.03500.00-0.00-0.04
0.91-0.0010.11440.00-0.00-0.09
0.80-0.001.50.27810.00-0.00-0.20
0.60-0.0020.44830.00-0.00-0.41
0.41-0.002.50.42100.00-0.00-0.60
0.31-0.0030.34330.00-0.00-0.71
0.24-0.003.50.28160.00-0.00-0.78
0.20-0.0040.23640.00-0.00-0.82
0.17-0.004.50.20260.00-0.00-0.85
0.15-0.0050.17680.00-0.00-0.88
0.13-0.005.50.15630.00-0.00-0.90

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

spot0.523.55103K0
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

spot0.523.55105K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 30K call contracts, 8K 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: SLDP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk