Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 15, 7:46 AM ET

UIS max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.5
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$2-20.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.06±42.2% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.225 puts / 23 calls
Call wall$2largest call OI
Put wall$2largest put OI
IV3080.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$19per 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Sep 18$3+20.0%3d
Fri, Oct 16$2.5+0.0%31d
Fri, Dec 18$2-20.0%94d
Fri, Jan 15$3+20.0%122d
Fri, Apr 16$2-20.0%213d
Fri, Dec 17$2-20.0%458d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2112233$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 — 2 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot21232020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UIS open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot212311
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Greeks by strike · Fri, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.940.0010.05530.00-0.00-0.08
0.77-0.0020.18930.01-0.00-0.24
0.53-0.0030.27000.01-0.00-0.50

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

spot12.5467.56K0
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

spot12.5467.515K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 14K call contracts, 16K 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: UIS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk