Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:03 AM ET

SNY max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.25
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$42.5+3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.8±14.1% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.832K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$40largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3030.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$2Kper 1% move

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$40-3.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5+3.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$42.5+3.0%81d
Fri, Mar 19$42.5+3.0%144d
Thu, Jun 17$47.5+15.2%234d
Fri, Dec 17$22.5-45.5%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5253239465360$3M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot42.52532.54047.555450450
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SNY open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot42.52532.54047.555160160
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot25323946536042%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 26.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot27.53542.55060+$27K−$27K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.00250.00340.01-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0027.50.00590.02-0.00-0.03
0.96-0.00300.01020.03-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.0032.50.01720.04-0.00-0.08
0.87-0.01350.02750.06-0.01-0.13
0.78-0.0137.50.04010.08-0.01-0.22
0.67-0.01400.05160.10-0.01-0.35
0.53-0.0142.50.05760.10-0.01-0.49
0.39-0.01450.05580.10-0.01-0.64
0.28-0.0147.50.04810.09-0.01-0.78
0.19-0.01500.03810.07-0.01-0.89
0.12-0.0152.50.02860.06-0.01-0.96
0.08-0.00550.02070.04—-1.00
0.04-0.00600.01020.02—-1.00

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

spot2535455565806K0
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

spot2030405060708K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 54K call contracts, 41K 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: SNY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk