Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 12:46 AM ET

SOLV max pain

Spot (delayed)$86.39
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$75-13.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.55±18.0% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.1839 puts / 215 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3036.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$24Kper 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$85-1.6%30d
Fri, Dec 18$85-1.6%58d
Fri, Jan 15$80-7.4%86d
Fri, Apr 16$75-13.2%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7565758595105115$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 — 75 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot75657585951051155757
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SOLV 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

spot75657585951051152222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot6575859510511541%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot65758595105115+$9K−$9K
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
0.90-0.01650.00760.10-0.01-0.10
0.85-0.01700.01070.14-0.01-0.15
0.78-0.01750.01420.17-0.02-0.21
0.70-0.02800.01750.21-0.02-0.30
0.60-0.02850.01990.23-0.02-0.40
0.50-0.02900.02090.24-0.02-0.51
0.40-0.02950.02040.23-0.02-0.62
0.32-0.021000.01880.21-0.02-0.71
0.24-0.021050.01650.19-0.01-0.80
0.18-0.011100.01390.16-0.01-0.87
0.14-0.011150.01140.13-0.01-0.93

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

spot6075901051202K0
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

spot4060801001202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 2K 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: SOLV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk