Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:04 AM ET

TTAN max pain

Spot (delayed)$87.06
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$80-8.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$16.5±19.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.12209 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3056.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$206Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $85

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$60-31.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$80-8.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$65-25.3%81d
Fri, Apr 16$60-31.1%172d
Fri, Jul 16$75-13.9%263d
Fri, Oct 15$60-31.1%354d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8050637689102115$3M$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 — 80 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot8050658095110645645
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TTAN 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

spot8050658095110218218
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot5063768910211583%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 61.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 8550658095110+$87K−$87K
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
0.98-0.01500.00180.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01550.00310.02-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.02600.00500.04-0.02-0.05
0.91-0.03650.00780.06-0.03-0.09
0.85-0.04700.01120.08-0.04-0.15
0.78-0.05750.01470.10-0.05-0.22
0.69-0.06800.01770.12-0.06-0.31
0.59-0.07850.01960.13-0.07-0.41
0.49-0.07900.02020.14-0.07-0.51
0.40-0.07950.01950.13-0.07-0.60
0.31-0.061000.01780.12-0.06-0.69
0.24-0.061050.01570.11-0.06-0.76
0.19-0.051100.01330.09-0.05-0.81
0.14-0.041150.01110.08-0.04-0.86

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

spot3055801051301553K0
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

spot3055801051301553K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 12K 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: TTAN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk