Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 14, 10:00 AM ET

TKO max pain

Spot (delayed)$173.86
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$180+3.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$33.9±19.5% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.64113 puts / 176 calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$180largest put OI
IV3037.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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, Oct 16$185+6.4%2d
Fri, Nov 20$175+0.7%37d
Fri, Jan 15$170-2.2%93d
Fri, Apr 16$180+3.5%184d
Fri, Jan 21$180+3.5%464d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot180120152184216248280$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 — 180 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot1801201601751902102609393
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TKO 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

spot18012016017519021026055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot12015218421624828039%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 150120160175190210260+$24K−$24K
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
0.92-0.011200.00270.17-0.02-0.07
0.86-0.021350.00450.27-0.03-0.13
0.76-0.031500.00660.37-0.04-0.23
0.68-0.041600.00780.43-0.04-0.31
0.64-0.041650.00820.45-0.04-0.35
0.60-0.041700.00860.47-0.04-0.40
0.55-0.041750.00890.48-0.04-0.44
0.51-0.041800.00910.49-0.04-0.49
0.47-0.041850.00910.49-0.04-0.54
0.42-0.041900.00900.48-0.04-0.58
0.38-0.041950.00880.47-0.04-0.62
0.34-0.042000.00850.45-0.04-0.67
0.27-0.042100.00780.41-0.03-0.74
0.13-0.022400.00480.26-0.02-0.92

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot851201501802202801K0
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

spot60951301652002701K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K call contracts, 3K 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: TKO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk