Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:27 AM ET

TVTX max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.5
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$55+8.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14±27.7% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.32310 puts / 966 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3049.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$18Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$55+8.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-55.4%54d
Fri, Jan 15$30-40.6%82d
Fri, Mar 19$55+8.9%145d
Fri, Jan 21$60+18.8%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot553044587286100$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot5530405062.57595207207
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TVTX open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 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, Mar 19

spot5530405062.5759511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot304458728610076%52%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 3530405062.57595+$8K−$8K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0132.50.00820.06-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.01350.01010.07-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.0237.50.01230.08-0.02-0.16
0.81-0.02400.01460.09-0.02-0.20
0.77-0.0242.50.01690.10-0.02-0.25
0.72-0.02450.01890.11-0.02-0.30
0.67-0.0247.50.02070.12-0.02-0.35
0.61-0.02500.02190.12-0.02-0.41
0.50-0.02550.02280.13-0.03-0.52
0.45-0.0257.50.02260.13-0.03-0.58
0.41-0.02600.02200.12-0.03-0.63
0.36-0.0262.50.02120.12-0.03-0.67
0.32-0.02650.02020.12-0.02-0.72
0.29-0.0267.50.01900.11-0.02-0.75
0.23-0.0272.50.01660.10-0.02-0.82

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.527.54052.565808K0
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

spot12.527.542.557.572.51008K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 20K call contracts, 11K 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: TVTX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk