Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:20 AM ET

VITL max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.27
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$15+61.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.83±41.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI1.22349 puts / 285 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3079.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$662per 1% move · flip ≈ $6

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$10+7.9%26d
Fri, Dec 18$7-24.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+34.8%82d
Fri, Apr 16$15+61.8%173d
Fri, Jan 21$10+7.9%453d
Fri, Dec 15$5-46.1%782d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot153711151923$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot152.56912.517.522.5174174
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VITL 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

spot152.56912.517.522.533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot3711151923197%60%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 62.56912.517.522.5+$1K−$1K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.95-0.002.50.00920.01-0.00-0.05
0.87-0.0050.02700.01-0.01-0.13
0.82-0.0160.03740.02-0.01-0.17
0.73-0.017.50.05620.02-0.01-0.26
0.62-0.0190.07540.02-0.01-0.38
0.53-0.01100.08350.03-0.01-0.46
0.37-0.0112.50.07900.02-0.01-0.63
0.28-0.01150.06440.02-0.01-0.72
0.23-0.0117.50.05350.02-0.01-0.78
0.21-0.01200.04600.02-0.01-0.81
0.19-0.0122.50.04060.02-0.01-0.83

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

spot5812.52035552K0
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

spot16111630607K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 22K call contracts, 9K 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: VITL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk