Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:14 AM ET

SPB max pain

Spot (delayed)$80.69
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65-19.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.5±13.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1637 puts / 228 calls
Call wall$105largest call OI
Put wall$65largest put OI
IV3039.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

Event risk before this expiration: 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$80-0.9%23d
Fri, Dec 18$65-19.4%51d
Fri, Jan 15$70-13.2%79d
Fri, Apr 16$70-13.2%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot655062748698110$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot6550658095110101101
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SPB 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

spot6550658095110177177
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot556677889911086%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 6550658095110+$7K−$7K
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
0.97-0.01500.00340.02-0.02-0.04
0.95-0.02550.00530.03-0.02-0.06
0.92-0.03600.00820.04-0.03-0.09
0.88-0.03650.01270.06-0.03-0.13
0.81-0.04700.01910.08-0.04-0.19
0.71-0.04750.02730.10-0.04-0.30
0.55-0.04800.03400.12-0.04-0.45
0.39-0.04850.03340.12-0.04-0.62
0.26-0.04900.02680.10-0.04-0.75
0.18-0.03950.02000.08-0.03-0.83
0.13-0.031000.01480.06-0.02-0.88
0.10-0.021050.01120.05-0.02-0.91
0.07-0.021100.00870.04-0.02-0.93

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

spot5075901051251230
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

spot35557595115980980
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 464 call contracts, 1K 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: SPB workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk