Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 2:01 AM ET

TNL max pain

Spot (delayed)$67.23
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$60-10.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.4±14.0% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.45195 puts / 435 calls
Call wall$72.5largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3036.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$38Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$62.5-7.0%24d
Fri, Dec 18$65-3.3%52d
Fri, Feb 19$60-10.8%115d
Fri, May 21$50-25.6%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6040557085100115$2M$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot604052.56577.595166166
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TNL open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 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, Feb 19

spot604052.56577.595100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot4357728610111571%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 42.54052.56577.595+$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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.90-0.01500.01090.07-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.0152.50.01360.07-0.01-0.13
0.84-0.02550.01680.09-0.02-0.17
0.80-0.0257.50.02050.10-0.02-0.21
0.74-0.02600.02450.12-0.02-0.26
0.68-0.0262.50.02850.13-0.02-0.32
0.60-0.02650.03190.14-0.02-0.40
0.52-0.0267.50.03380.15-0.02-0.48
0.44-0.02700.03380.15-0.02-0.57
0.36-0.0272.50.03210.14-0.02-0.65
0.29-0.02750.02920.13-0.02-0.71
0.24-0.0277.50.02580.12-0.01-0.77
0.20-0.01800.02230.10-0.01-0.81
0.16-0.0182.50.01920.09-0.01-0.85
0.13-0.01850.01650.08-0.01-0.88

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot40607080951152K0
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

spot32.54557.57082.51002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: TNL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk