Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:02 AM ET

TARK max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.01
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$44-2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11±24.4% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.4539 puts / 86 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3080.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 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$45-0.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$44-2.2%54d
Fri, Mar 19$35-22.2%145d
Thu, Jun 17$45-0.0%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot44253647586980$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 — 44 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot442535394348806363
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TARK 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

spot4425353943488011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot25364758698098%73%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 50253539434880+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.74-0.04380.02410.06-0.04-0.26
0.71-0.05390.02520.06-0.04-0.28
0.68-0.05400.02620.06-0.04-0.31
0.66-0.05410.02710.06-0.04-0.34
0.63-0.05420.02790.07-0.05-0.37
0.60-0.05430.02850.07-0.05-0.39
0.57-0.05440.02900.07-0.05-0.42
0.54-0.05450.02920.07-0.05-0.45
0.51-0.05460.02940.07-0.05-0.48
0.45-0.05480.02920.07-0.05-0.53
0.40-0.05500.02840.07-0.04-0.58
0.19-0.03600.02010.05-0.03-0.78
0.09-0.02700.01150.03-0.02-0.89
0.04-0.01800.00610.01-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 21 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2535435056702000
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

spot203643505770200200
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 377 call contracts, 69 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: TARK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk