Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:05 AM ET

TTD max pain

Spot (delayed)$13
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$17.5+34.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.76±21.2% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.3824K puts / 62K calls
Call wall$80largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3081.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $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, Oct 30$12.5-3.8%4d
Fri, Nov 6$12.5-3.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$13+0.0%18d
Fri, Nov 20$15+15.4%25d
Fri, Nov 27$13.5+3.8%32d
Fri, Dec 4$13+0.0%39d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5+34.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5+34.6%81d
Fri, Mar 19$17.5+34.6%144d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-3.8%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.531834496580$264M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot17.52.51527.54052.5709K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TTD 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

spot17.52.51527.54052.570309309
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot31834496580237%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 52.51527.54052.570+$96K−$96K
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
1.00-0.002.50.00100.00-0.00-0.00
0.99-0.0050.00500.00-0.00-0.01
0.96-0.007.50.01800.00-0.00-0.04
0.86-0.01100.05930.01-0.01-0.14
0.62-0.0112.50.10450.02-0.01-0.38
0.36-0.01150.10400.02-0.01-0.64
0.19-0.0117.50.07350.01-0.01-0.82
0.10-0.01200.04480.01-0.01-0.92
0.05-0.0022.50.02730.01-0.00-0.97
0.03-0.00250.01770.00-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.0027.50.01230.00-0.00-1.00
0.02-0.00300.00900.000.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot49.512.515.518.52318K0
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

spot513.527.547.57012066K66K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 648K call contracts, 214K 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: TTD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk