Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:26 AM ET

TSMG max pain

Spot (delayed)$35.95
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$40+11.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.5±20.9% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.26251 puts / 958 calls
Call wall$44largest call OI
Put wall$34largest put OI
IV3068.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$28Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $41

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$41+14.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$40+11.3%53d
Fri, Mar 19$40+11.3%144d
Thu, Jun 17$29-19.3%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40203040506070$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot40203135394355429429
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TSMG 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

spot4020313539435511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot203040506070105%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 41203135394355+$18K−$18K
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
0.82-0.02290.02720.04-0.02-0.18
0.79-0.03300.03020.04-0.03-0.21
0.75-0.03310.03300.04-0.03-0.25
0.71-0.03320.03560.05-0.03-0.28
0.67-0.03330.03780.05-0.03-0.32
0.63-0.03340.03950.05-0.03-0.36
0.59-0.03350.04080.05-0.03-0.41
0.55-0.03360.04150.06-0.03-0.45
0.50-0.03370.04170.06-0.03-0.49
0.47-0.03380.04140.06-0.03-0.53
0.43-0.03390.04080.06-0.03-0.56
0.39-0.03400.03970.05-0.03-0.60
0.36-0.03410.03840.05-0.03-0.63
0.33-0.03420.03690.05-0.03-0.67
0.30-0.03430.03520.05-0.03-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2032374247654520
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

spot203036424865452452
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 592 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: TSMG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk