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

VRSN max pain

Spot (delayed)$299
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$200-33.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$60.35±20.2% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.2573 puts / 287 calls
Call wall$280largest call OI
Put wall$270largest put OI
IV3029.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$74Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $270

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$280-6.4%25d
Fri, Dec 18$310+3.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$280-6.4%81d
Fri, Mar 19$240-19.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$200-33.1%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot200190228266304342380$2M$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot2001902102703003409797
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VRSN 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

spot200190210270300340100100
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot19022826630434238037%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 270190210270300340+$39K−$39K
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
0.96-0.011900.00100.23-0.02-0.05
0.94-0.012000.00130.29-0.02-0.06
0.93-0.022100.00160.35-0.03-0.08
0.90-0.032200.00200.42-0.03-0.10
0.73-0.052700.00420.79-0.06-0.27
0.69-0.062800.00450.85-0.06-0.32
0.59-0.063000.00510.94-0.06-0.43
0.49-0.063200.00540.96-0.07-0.54
0.39-0.063400.00520.92-0.06-0.65
0.23-0.043800.00420.73-0.05-0.84

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

spot1351952503103704302K0
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

spot1251601952603304003K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 7K 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: VRSN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk