Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:55 PM ET

WDC max pain

Spot (delayed)$347.35
Max pain · Fri, Dec 4$395+13.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$58.53±16.8% by Fri, Dec 4
Put/Call OI1.88184 puts / 98 calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$410largest put OI
IV3067.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$66Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $310

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 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$370+6.5%4d
Fri, Nov 6$370+6.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$400+15.2%18d
Fri, Nov 20$390+12.3%25d
Fri, Nov 27$380+9.4%32d
Fri, Dec 4$395+13.7%39d
Fri, Dec 18$360+3.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$380+9.4%81d
Fri, Mar 19$450+29.6%144d
Fri, Apr 16$340-2.1%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot395250305360415470525$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 — 395 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot3952503153453754204806060
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WDC open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 4.

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 4

spot395250315345375420480205205
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spot25030536041547052588%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 64.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 4

spotflip 310250315345375420480+$32K−$32K
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 4

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.74-0.313100.00420.37-0.31-0.26
0.72-0.323150.00440.39-0.33-0.28
0.69-0.333200.00460.40-0.34-0.31
0.67-0.343250.00480.41-0.35-0.33
0.65-0.353300.00490.42-0.36-0.36
0.62-0.363350.00510.43-0.37-0.38
0.59-0.373400.00520.44-0.37-0.41
0.57-0.373450.00520.45-0.38-0.44
0.54-0.383500.00530.45-0.38-0.46
0.51-0.383550.00530.46-0.38-0.49
0.49-0.383600.00530.46-0.38-0.52
0.46-0.383650.00530.45-0.38-0.54
0.44-0.373700.00530.45-0.38-0.57
0.41-0.373750.00520.44-0.37-0.59
0.39-0.363800.00520.44-0.36-0.62

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot250327.53704104705402K0
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

spot1512026039053068020K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 236K call contracts, 293K 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: WDC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk