Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 16, 12:02 AM ET

TXG max pain

Spot (delayed)$72.56
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$60-17.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.2±30.6% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.1519 puts / 131 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3096.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$7Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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 16$80+10.3%today
Fri, Nov 20$65-10.4%35d
Fri, Dec 18$60-17.3%63d
Fri, Feb 19$65-10.4%126d
Fri, May 21$50-31.1%217d
Fri, Aug 20$50-31.1%308d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot6040567288104120$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot60406075901207878
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TXG 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

spot60406075901201212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot40567288104120103%88%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 90.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 6040607590120+$5K−$5K
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
0.95-0.01400.00360.03-0.02-0.05
0.87-0.04500.00730.06-0.04-0.13
0.81-0.05550.00940.08-0.06-0.18
0.75-0.06600.01130.10-0.07-0.24
0.68-0.07650.01290.11-0.07-0.31
0.61-0.08700.01390.12-0.08-0.39
0.54-0.08750.01440.12-0.08-0.46
0.47-0.08800.01450.12-0.08-0.53
0.41-0.08850.01410.12-0.08-0.59
0.35-0.08900.01350.11-0.07-0.65
0.26-0.071000.01160.10-0.06-0.74
0.15-0.051150.00860.07-0.04-0.85
0.13-0.041200.00760.06-0.03-0.87

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

spot2.52550751001253K0
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

spot2.517.540701001304K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 7K 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: TXG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk