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 — 35 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SQQQ 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 ≈ 72.1% · 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
0.81
-0.02
33
0.0272
0.04
-0.02
-0.19
0.77
-0.03
34
0.0296
0.05
-0.03
-0.23
0.73
-0.03
35
0.0315
0.05
-0.03
-0.27
0.69
-0.03
36
0.0329
0.05
-0.03
-0.30
0.66
-0.04
37
0.0338
0.06
-0.04
-0.34
0.62
-0.04
38
0.0343
0.06
-0.04
-0.38
0.58
-0.04
39
0.0344
0.06
-0.04
-0.41
0.55
-0.04
40
0.0342
0.06
-0.04
-0.45
0.52
-0.04
41
0.0338
0.06
-0.04
-0.48
0.49
-0.04
42
0.0333
0.06
-0.04
-0.51
0.46
-0.04
43
0.0326
0.06
-0.04
-0.54
0.43
-0.04
44
0.0317
0.06
-0.04
-0.56
0.41
-0.04
45
0.0308
0.06
-0.04
-0.59
0.39
-0.04
46
0.0299
0.06
-0.04
-0.61
0.36
-0.04
47
0.0289
0.06
-0.04
-0.63
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 59 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.