Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:01 PM ET

TENX max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.7
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$1.5-11.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.23±72.0% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.15238 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV30100.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 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$1.5-11.8%30d
Fri, Dec 18$1.5-11.8%58d
Fri, Jan 15$2+17.6%86d
Fri, Apr 16$1.5-11.8%177d
Fri, Jan 21$2+17.6%457d
Fri, Jan 19$2+17.6%821d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1.5123568$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 — 1.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1.50.51.52.55774774
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TENX 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

spot1.50.51.52.552323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot123568239%89%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 149.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot123.57.5+$585−$585
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
0.960.000.50.05470.00-0.00-0.06
0.86-0.0010.15460.00-0.00-0.15
0.72-0.001.50.26780.00-0.00-0.30
0.57-0.0020.32250.01-0.00-0.45
0.47-0.002.50.31530.01-0.00-0.56
0.35-0.003.50.26380.00-0.00-0.69
0.28-0.0050.20990.00-0.00-0.77
0.23-0.007.50.16480.00-0.00-0.84

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

spot0.52512.520309K0
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

spot0.523.51017.52510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 2K 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: TENX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk