Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 21, 6:46 PM ET

THYP max pain

Spot (delayed)$53.97
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$31-42.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$26.7±49.5% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.1112 puts / 105 calls
Call wall$47largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3082.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $31

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$53-1.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$33-38.9%53d
Fri, Mar 19$31-42.6%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot31203142536475$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 — 31 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot3120314250703333
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)THYP 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

spot3120314250702020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot203142536475107%88%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 90.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 312031425070+$942−$942
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
0.87-0.02310.00540.08-0.02-0.12
0.79-0.03400.00810.11-0.03-0.21
0.77-0.03410.00840.11-0.03-0.22
0.76-0.03420.00860.12-0.03-0.23
0.73-0.03450.00940.12-0.03-0.27
0.71-0.03470.00980.13-0.03-0.29
0.67-0.03500.01040.14-0.03-0.32
0.62-0.03550.01100.14-0.04-0.38
0.57-0.04600.01140.15-0.04-0.43
0.47-0.04700.01140.15-0.04-0.53
0.43-0.04750.01120.15-0.04-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2030414760340
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

spot2030374451583434
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 131 call contracts, 34 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: THYP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk