Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 7:01 PM ET

SMMT max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.61
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$13-11.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.1±55.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.13534 puts / 4K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$13largest put OI
IV30117.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$30Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $6

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, Oct 30$16+9.6%4d
Fri, Nov 6$17+16.4%11d
Fri, Nov 13$15+2.7%18d
Fri, Nov 20$16+9.6%25d
Fri, Nov 27$15.5+6.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$14-4.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$15+2.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$15+2.7%81d
Fri, Mar 19$15+2.7%144d
Fri, Apr 16$13-11.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot131815212835$7M$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 — 13 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1319141925333K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMMT 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

spot1319141925331515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot51117232935132%91%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 101.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 6511162228+$28K−$28K
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
0.90-0.0180.01630.02-0.01-0.12
0.87-0.0190.01960.02-0.01-0.15
0.84-0.01100.02300.03-0.01-0.18
0.81-0.01110.02620.03-0.01-0.22
0.77-0.01120.02920.03-0.01-0.25
0.74-0.01130.03180.03-0.01-0.29
0.70-0.01140.03400.04-0.01-0.33
0.67-0.01150.03570.04-0.01-0.36
0.63-0.01160.03700.04-0.01-0.40
0.60-0.01170.03790.04-0.01-0.43
0.56-0.01180.03840.04-0.01-0.47
0.54-0.01190.03870.04-0.01-0.50
0.51-0.01200.03860.04-0.01-0.53
0.46-0.01220.03800.04-0.01-0.58
0.43-0.01230.03750.04-0.01-0.61

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot51416.51922262K0
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

spot110.51621.5273430K30K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 140K call contracts, 89K 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: SMMT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk