Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:43 AM ET

SMHC max pain

Spot (delayed)$36.49
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$45+23.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.5±28.8% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.5664 puts / 41 calls
Call wall$44largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3050.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$987per 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$44+20.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$48+31.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$45+23.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$45+23.3%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45203040506070$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot452040434551556060
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMHC 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

spot4520404345515511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot25344352617063%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 25204043455155+$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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.01200.00890.02-0.01-0.06
0.87-0.01250.01560.05-0.01-0.13
0.45-0.01400.03020.10-0.01-0.53
0.43-0.01410.02990.10-0.01-0.55
0.38-0.01430.02890.09-0.01-0.60
0.35-0.01440.02820.09-0.01-0.63
0.33-0.01450.02740.09-0.01-0.65
0.27-0.01480.02490.08-0.01-0.71
0.22-0.01510.02220.07-0.01-0.76
0.21-0.01520.02120.07-0.01-0.78

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot304045557180240
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

spot2037475767776767
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 143 call contracts, 235 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: SMHC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk