Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 31, 5:21 AM ET

TRP max pain

Spot (delayed)$64.5
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$62.5-3.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.8±5.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.23133 puts / 571 calls
Call wall$62.5largest call OI
Put wall$62.5largest put OI
IV3022.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$123Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $62.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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$62.5-3.1%20d
Fri, Dec 18$62.5-3.1%48d
Fri, Jan 15$70+8.5%76d
Fri, Feb 19$62.5-3.1%111d
Fri, May 21$57.5-10.9%202d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot62.5555861646770$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 — 62.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot62.555606570502502
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TRP 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

spot62.55560657011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot55586164677051%18%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 19.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 62.555606570+$114K−$114K
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
0.91-0.01550.01910.04-0.01-0.09
0.87-0.0257.50.02880.05-0.02-0.13
0.80-0.02600.04340.07-0.02-0.20
0.69-0.0262.50.06250.08-0.02-0.32
0.52-0.02650.07540.09-0.02-0.50
0.34-0.0267.50.06810.09-0.02-0.69
0.22-0.02700.05060.07-0.02-0.82

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

spot455562.570804K0
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

spot32.542.552.562.572.5854K4K
■ 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: TRP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk