Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:09 PM ET

SWBI max pain

Spot (delayed)$13.54
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$14+3.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.25±24.0% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.89617 puts / 694 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$11largest put OI
IV3037.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $11

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$14+3.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$14+3.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$10-26.1%82d
Fri, Mar 19$14+3.4%145d
Thu, Jun 17$15+10.8%235d
Fri, Jan 21$7-48.3%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1471013172023$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 — 14 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot14712151823308308
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SWBI 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

spot147121518232929
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot7101317202368%43%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 11712151823+$4K−$4K
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
0.95-0.0070.01560.01-0.00-0.05
0.86-0.00100.04580.02-0.00-0.14
0.81-0.00110.06260.02-0.00-0.20
0.73-0.00120.08140.03-0.01-0.28
0.64-0.01130.09800.03-0.01-0.37
0.54-0.01140.10710.03-0.01-0.48
0.44-0.01150.10630.03-0.01-0.58
0.35-0.01160.09840.03-0.01-0.66
0.28-0.00170.08720.03-0.00-0.73
0.23-0.00180.07570.03-0.00-0.79
0.19-0.00190.06520.02-0.00-0.83
0.16-0.00200.05610.02-0.00-0.86
0.10-0.00230.03660.01-0.00-0.92

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

spot38131721305K0
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

spot38121620255K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 15K call contracts, 5K 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: SWBI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk