Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 3:00 AM ET

SPGI max pain

Spot (delayed)$448
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$450+0.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$31.55±7.0% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI9.2046 puts / 5 calls
Call wall$450largest call OI
Put wall$380largest put OI
IV3027.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$16Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 · Jobs report Fri, Dec 4 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$430-4.0%2d
Fri, Nov 6$415-7.4%9d
Fri, Nov 13$425-5.1%16d
Fri, Nov 20$430-4.0%23d
Fri, Nov 27$410-8.5%30d
Fri, Dec 4$450+0.4%37d
Fri, Dec 18$420-6.3%51d
Fri, Jan 15$440-1.8%79d
Fri, Feb 19$410-8.5%114d
Fri, Mar 19$430-4.0%142d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot450380399418437456475$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 — 450 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot4503804004304504704754343
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SPGI open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot4503804004304504704753939
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot38039941843745647538%26%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 27.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot380400430450475+$22K−$22K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.083800.00240.18-0.09-0.07
0.88-0.124000.00420.29-0.13-0.12
0.71-0.194300.00830.50-0.19-0.30
0.52-0.214500.01020.58-0.21-0.48
0.33-0.184700.00930.52-0.18-0.68
0.29-0.174750.00870.49-0.17-0.72

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

spot375410430452.54755151560
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

spot2103203704154555302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K call contracts, 15K 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 · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk