Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:16 AM ET

VCYT max pain

Spot (delayed)$47.93
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$35-27.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.9±22.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.05145 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3081.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$159Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$50+4.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$35-27.0%53d
Fri, Mar 19$40-16.5%144d
Thu, Jun 17$50+4.3%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35183145587285$8M$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot3517.525405570851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VCYT 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

spot3517.525405570853434
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot183145587285237%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 2517.52540557085+$84K−$84K
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
0.97-0.01200.00260.01-0.01-0.03
0.96-0.0222.50.00350.01-0.02-0.04
0.95-0.02250.00460.02-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.03300.00810.03-0.02-0.08
0.86-0.03350.01340.04-0.03-0.14
0.77-0.04400.02060.06-0.04-0.22
0.64-0.04450.02780.07-0.04-0.35
0.49-0.05500.03070.07-0.05-0.50
0.36-0.04550.02820.07-0.04-0.64
0.27-0.04600.02360.06-0.04-0.73
0.20-0.04650.01910.05-0.04-0.80
0.16-0.03700.01550.04-0.03-0.84
0.13-0.03750.01280.04-0.03-0.87
0.11-0.03800.01060.03-0.03-0.90
0.09-0.03850.00900.03-0.03-0.91

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.525405570851K0
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

spot17.525405570851K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K call contracts, 3K 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: VCYT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk