Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:05 AM ET

SMTC max pain

Spot (delayed)$132
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$100-24.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.1±25.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.303K puts / 9K calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3078.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$779Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$140+6.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$130-1.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$150+13.6%18d
Fri, Nov 20$140+6.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$145+9.8%32d
Fri, Dec 4$160+21.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$100-24.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$110-16.7%81d
Fri, Mar 19$140+6.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1001570125180235290$112M$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1001538701151602101K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMTC 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

spot100153870115160210446446
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1570125180235290301%71%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 83.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 50305090130170220+$160K−$160K
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
0.88-0.09950.00450.11-0.09-0.13
0.84-0.101000.00530.13-0.10-0.16
0.81-0.111050.00610.14-0.11-0.19
0.77-0.121100.00690.16-0.12-0.23
0.73-0.131150.00750.17-0.13-0.27
0.69-0.141200.00810.18-0.14-0.32
0.64-0.151250.00860.19-0.15-0.36
0.60-0.151300.00900.20-0.15-0.41
0.55-0.151350.00920.20-0.15-0.46
0.51-0.151400.00920.21-0.16-0.50
0.46-0.151450.00920.21-0.15-0.54
0.42-0.151500.00910.20-0.15-0.58
0.38-0.151550.00890.20-0.15-0.63
0.35-0.141600.00860.19-0.14-0.66
0.31-0.141650.00820.18-0.14-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 53 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot110134145162.5197.52352K0
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

spot236010014018024010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 53K 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: SMTC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk