Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:37 AM ET

TCOM max pain

Spot (delayed)$39.9
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$45+12.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.35±10.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.0614K puts / 13K calls
Call wall$47.5largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3034.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$394Kper 1% move

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$40+0.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$45+12.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$50+25.3%81d
Fri, Mar 19$40+0.2%144d
Thu, Jun 17$45+12.8%234d
Fri, Jan 21$45+12.8%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45253545556575$34M$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, Dec 18

spot45253542.550656K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TCOM 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

spot45253542.55065108108
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot253545556575120%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot253542.55065+$401K−$401K
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
0.99-0.00250.00280.00-0.00-0.01
0.96-0.01300.01230.01-0.01-0.04
0.92-0.0132.50.02380.02-0.01-0.08
0.84-0.01350.04140.04-0.01-0.16
0.71-0.0237.50.06160.05-0.02-0.30
0.54-0.02400.07380.06-0.02-0.47
0.36-0.0242.50.06980.06-0.02-0.66
0.22-0.01450.05440.05-0.01-0.80
0.13-0.0147.50.03750.03-0.01-0.90
0.08-0.01500.02440.02-0.01-0.96
0.03-0.00550.01000.010.00-1.00
0.01-0.00600.00430.01—-1.00
0.01-0.00650.00200.00—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2537.54560851109K0
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

spot2032.542.5558511512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 65K call contracts, 54K 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: TCOM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk