Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:18 AM ET

UNHG max pain

Spot (delayed)$21.81
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$17-22.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.85±17.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.28940 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$31largest call OI
Put wall$17largest put OI
IV3057.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$62Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $7

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$19-12.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$17-22.1%54d
Fri, Mar 19$14-35.8%145d
Thu, Jun 17$14-35.8%235d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1761218232935$4M$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 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot1761217222732601601
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)UNHG 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

spot176121722273255
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot71318242935212%35%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 761217222732+$11K−$11K
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
0.91-0.01150.02380.01-0.01-0.09
0.88-0.01160.03040.02-0.01-0.12
0.85-0.01170.03860.02-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.01180.04800.02-0.01-0.19
0.75-0.01190.05800.03-0.01-0.25
0.68-0.02200.06740.03-0.02-0.31
0.61-0.02210.07440.03-0.02-0.39
0.53-0.02220.07800.03-0.02-0.46
0.46-0.02230.07790.03-0.02-0.54
0.39-0.02240.07470.03-0.02-0.61
0.33-0.02250.06940.03-0.02-0.67
0.27-0.01260.06300.03-0.02-0.72
0.23-0.01270.05640.03-0.01-0.77
0.19-0.01280.04990.02-0.01-0.81
0.16-0.01290.04390.02-0.01-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot613182328331K0
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

spot410162228341K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 2K 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: UNHG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk