Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 17, 11:06 PM ET

TDUP max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.21
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$2.5+13.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.05±47.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI5.65130 puts / 23 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV30100.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$180per 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$2-9.5%33d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5+13.2%89d
Fri, Apr 16$2.5+13.2%180d
Fri, Jan 21$2.5+13.2%460d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.5234568$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot2.51.52.557.5125125
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TDUP open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot2.51.52.557.522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot234568116%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 88.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1.52.557.5+$197−$197
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.84-0.001.50.17460.00-0.00-0.17
0.56-0.002.50.30890.01-0.00-0.46
0.23-0.0050.19470.01-0.00-0.81
0.15-0.007.50.12890.00-0.00-0.92

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

spot251015201K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.512.517.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 683 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: TDUP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk