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.
■ 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 — 530 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SOXX 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
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18
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 Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.76
-0.24
430
0.0036
0.58
-0.24
-0.24
0.72
-0.25
440
0.0039
0.63
-0.26
-0.28
0.68
-0.27
450
0.0042
0.67
-0.27
-0.32
0.66
-0.27
455
0.0044
0.69
-0.27
-0.34
0.63
-0.28
460
0.0045
0.70
-0.28
-0.36
0.61
-0.28
465
0.0047
0.72
-0.28
-0.39
0.59
-0.28
470
0.0048
0.73
-0.28
-0.41
0.56
-0.28
475
0.0049
0.74
-0.29
-0.44
0.54
-0.28
480
0.0049
0.74
-0.29
-0.46
0.51
-0.28
485
0.0050
0.75
-0.29
-0.49
0.49
-0.28
490
0.0050
0.75
-0.28
-0.51
0.46
-0.28
495
0.0050
0.74
-0.28
-0.54
0.44
-0.28
500
0.0050
0.74
-0.28
-0.56
0.41
-0.27
505
0.0050
0.73
-0.28
-0.59
0.39
-0.27
510
0.0049
0.72
-0.27
-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 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.