Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:50 AM ET

WBTN max pain

Spot (delayed)$9.16
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$10+9.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.84±31.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.27126 puts / 99 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3084.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$819per 1% move

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$7.5-18.1%24d
Fri, Dec 18$10+9.2%52d
Fri, Mar 19$7.5-18.1%143d
Thu, Jun 17$7.5-18.1%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1081115182225$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot107.512.517.525106106
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WBTN 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

spot107.512.517.52522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot81115182225157%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 91.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot7.512.517.525+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.80-0.017.50.09340.01-0.01-0.21
0.48-0.01100.14210.01-0.01-0.54
0.28-0.0112.50.09860.01-0.01-0.75
0.19-0.01150.06860.01-0.01-0.84
0.13-0.0117.50.05060.01-0.01-0.89
0.10-0.01200.03880.01-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.01250.02490.00-0.01-0.97

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

spot51015201460
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5146146
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 278 call contracts, 241 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: WBTN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk