Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:18 AM ET

VIRT max pain

Spot (delayed)$55.93
Max pain · Fri, Mar 19$60+7.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.95±21.4% by Fri, Mar 19
Put/Call OI0.39482 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$55largest put OI
IV3043.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$61Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$60+7.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$47-16.0%53d
Fri, Mar 19$60+7.3%144d
Thu, Jun 17$30-46.4%234d
Fri, Dec 17$60+7.3%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60304254667890$3M$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, Mar 19

spot60304050607085826826
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VIRT open contracts per strike for Fri, Mar 19.

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, Mar 19

spot6030405060708511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spot30425466789062%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Mar 19

spotflip 35304050607085+$62K−$62K
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, Mar 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.01300.00340.03-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01350.00610.04-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01400.01030.06-0.01-0.11
0.82-0.01450.01610.09-0.01-0.18
0.72-0.02500.02240.12-0.02-0.28
0.59-0.02550.02710.14-0.02-0.41
0.46-0.02600.02830.14-0.02-0.55
0.33-0.02650.02600.13-0.02-0.68
0.24-0.01700.02190.11-0.02-0.78
0.17-0.01750.01740.09-0.01-0.86
0.08-0.01850.01010.05-0.01-0.95
0.06-0.01900.00760.04-0.01-0.98

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

spot23354560802K0
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

spot1828374765852K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K 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: VIRT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk