Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:15 AM ET

VRNS max pain

Spot (delayed)$48.88
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$45-7.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.78±7.7% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.0139 puts / 6K calls
Call wall$70largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV304.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.0Mper 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$45-7.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$30-38.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$45-7.9%81d
Fri, Mar 19$45-7.9%144d
Thu, Jun 17$45-7.9%234d
Fri, Jan 21$17.5-64.2%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45233242516170$9M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot4522.5434750652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VRNS open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot4522.543475065188188
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot40465258647022%3%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 6.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 3522.543475065+$1.1M−$1.1M
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.00350.01190.02-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.00400.02290.04-0.00-0.06
0.91-0.00430.03890.06-0.00-0.09
0.86-0.00450.06230.08-0.00-0.13
0.83-0.00460.08360.10-0.00-0.16
0.77-0.00470.11850.12-0.00-0.22
0.67-0.00480.17960.14-0.00-0.32
0.47-0.00490.25110.15-0.00-0.51
0.26-0.00500.18920.13-0.00-0.73
0.06-0.00550.03210.05-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00600.01300.030.00-0.99
0.02-0.00650.00710.02—-1.00
0.010.00700.00450.01—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 14 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.5203045606K0
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

spot12.522.54044486010K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 12K 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: VRNS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk