Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 5:29 AM ET

STEP max pain

Spot (delayed)$41.94
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$45+7.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.5±27.4% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.01128 puts / 10K calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3060.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$256Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$30-28.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$40-4.6%51d
Fri, Mar 19$45+7.3%142d
Thu, Jun 17$50+19.2%232d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45233344546575$10M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot4522.5304050607010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)STEP 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

spot4522.5304050607011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot23334454657584%46%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 3522.53040506070+$257K−$257K
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
0.95-0.0022.50.00550.03-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.01250.00780.03-0.01-0.07
0.87-0.01300.01390.06-0.01-0.14
0.77-0.01350.02120.08-0.02-0.24
0.63-0.02400.02740.10-0.02-0.38
0.49-0.02450.03020.10-0.02-0.52
0.35-0.02500.02880.10-0.02-0.66
0.24-0.01550.02450.08-0.01-0.78
0.16-0.01600.01930.06-0.01-0.86
0.11-0.01650.01460.05-0.01-0.92
0.07-0.01700.01070.04-0.00-0.95
0.05-0.01750.00780.03—-0.98

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

spot22.53550658010K0
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

spot22.53550658010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 953 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: STEP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk