Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 12:15 AM ET

ST max pain

Spot (delayed)$40.7
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$42.5+4.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.6±21.1% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.0870 puts / 886 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3044.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$33Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$45+10.6%28d
Fri, Dec 18$50+22.9%56d
Fri, Jan 15$27.5-32.4%84d
Fri, Mar 19$42.5+4.4%147d
Thu, Jun 17$47.5+16.7%237d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5232936424955$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot42.522.5304047.555806806
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ST open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot42.522.5304047.55577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot23293642495564%40%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 5022.5304047.555+$32K−$32K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.0022.50.00610.03-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.00250.00850.03-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0127.50.01180.04-0.01-0.09
0.88-0.01300.01600.05-0.01-0.13
0.83-0.0132.50.02130.07-0.01-0.18
0.77-0.01350.02720.08-0.01-0.24
0.60-0.01400.03710.10-0.01-0.41
0.50-0.0142.50.03880.10-0.01-0.51
0.41-0.01450.03800.10-0.01-0.60
0.34-0.0147.50.03530.09-0.01-0.69
0.27-0.01500.03160.09-0.01-0.76
0.22-0.0152.50.02760.08-0.01-0.82
0.18-0.01550.02370.07-0.01-0.86

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

spot1022.53547.5602K0
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

spot517.53042.555702K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 3K 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: ST workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk