Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 12, 4:41 AM ET

SPGI max pain

Spot (delayed)$410.71
Max pain · Fri, Oct 30$395-3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$35.9±8.7% by Fri, Oct 30
Put wall$360largest put OI
IV3027.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$3Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Sep 18$420+2.3%6d
Fri, Sep 25$430+4.7%13d
Fri, Oct 2$430+4.7%20d
Fri, Oct 9$415+1.0%27d
Fri, Oct 16$420+2.3%34d
Fri, Oct 23$445+8.3%41d
Fri, Oct 30$395-3.8%48d
Fri, Nov 20$430+4.7%69d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot395360367374381388395$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 — 395 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot39536038539511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SPGI open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 30.

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, Oct 30

spot3953603853951010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 30

spot360385395+$1K$1K
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, Oct 30

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.103600.00390.30-0.10-0.12
0.76-0.153850.00690.47-0.15-0.25
0.68-0.163950.00800.54-0.16-0.32

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

spot3304054304554905704110
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

spot210340400432.54705602K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 12K 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: SPGI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk