Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:03 AM ET

TMUS max pain

Spot (delayed)$146.97
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$170+15.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.6±12.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.4411K puts / 24K calls
Call wall$200largest call OI
Put wall$140largest put OI
IV3039.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$505Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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 30$155+5.5%4d
Fri, Nov 6$150+2.1%11d
Fri, Nov 13$155+5.5%18d
Fri, Nov 20$170+15.7%25d
Fri, Nov 27$150+2.1%32d
Fri, Dec 4$145-1.3%39d
Fri, Dec 18$170+15.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$180+22.5%81d
Fri, Feb 19$185+25.9%116d
Fri, Mar 19$170+15.7%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17085148211274337400$414M$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 — 170 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot170851251652102903705K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TMUS 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

spot17085125165210290370387387
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot85148211274337400122%33%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 38.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 11085110135160185220+$693K−$693K
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
0.97-0.021100.00320.04-0.02-0.04
0.95-0.031150.00490.06-0.03-0.07
0.92-0.041200.00710.09-0.04-0.10
0.87-0.051250.00970.12-0.05-0.14
0.81-0.061300.01250.15-0.06-0.20
0.74-0.071350.01530.18-0.07-0.27
0.66-0.071400.01750.21-0.07-0.36
0.56-0.081450.01890.22-0.08-0.45
0.47-0.071500.01930.23-0.08-0.54
0.38-0.071550.01860.22-0.07-0.64
0.29-0.061600.01690.20-0.06-0.72
0.22-0.051650.01460.17-0.05-0.79
0.16-0.041700.01210.14-0.04-0.85
0.12-0.041750.00970.11-0.03-0.90
0.08-0.031800.00750.09-0.03-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot100137148162.51802103K0
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

spot7513014417022532021K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 151K call contracts, 111K 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: TMUS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk