Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 17, 1:08 AM ET

UBS max pain

Spot (delayed)$47.68
Max pain · Fri, May 21$40-16.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.1±19.1% by Fri, May 21
Put/Call OI0.15110 puts / 713 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3031.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$44Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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$47.5-0.4%35d
Fri, Dec 18$52.5+10.1%63d
Fri, Jan 15$47.5-0.4%91d
Fri, Feb 19$50+4.9%126d
Fri, May 21$40-16.1%217d
Fri, Jan 21$52.5+10.1%462d
Fri, Jan 19$50+4.9%826d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40334048556370$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, May 21

spot4032.54047.55565259259
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UBS open contracts per strike for Fri, May 21.

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, May 21

spot4032.54047.55565155155
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, May 21

spot33404855637040%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, May 21

spotflip 4532.54047.55565+$16K−$16K
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, May 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.93-0.0032.50.00900.05-0.01-0.08
0.91-0.00350.01260.06-0.01-0.11
0.87-0.0137.50.01700.08-0.01-0.15
0.81-0.01400.02210.09-0.01-0.20
0.75-0.0142.50.02740.12-0.01-0.27
0.67-0.01450.03210.13-0.01-0.35
0.59-0.0147.50.03540.14-0.01-0.43
0.50-0.01500.03700.14-0.01-0.52
0.41-0.0152.50.03650.14-0.01-0.61
0.33-0.01550.03430.13-0.01-0.69
0.26-0.0157.50.03080.12-0.01-0.77
0.20-0.01600.02660.10-0.01-0.84
0.11-0.00650.01800.07-0.01-0.97
0.06-0.00700.01110.04-0.00-1.00

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

spot20304050606K0
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

spot1525354555659K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 44K call contracts, 59K 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: UBS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk