Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:23 AM ET

WDFC max pain

Spot (delayed)$212.71
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$200-6.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$18.6±8.7% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.0041 puts / 41 calls
Call wall$250largest call OI
Put wall$165largest put OI
IV3029.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $230

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$195-8.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$200-6.0%54d
Fri, Feb 19$185-13.0%117d
Fri, May 21$195-8.3%208d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot200165182199216233250$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 — 200 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2001651751852102302501212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WDFC 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

spot20016517518521023025022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot16518219921623325045%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 230165175185210230250+$6K−$6K
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
0.94-0.031650.00310.09-0.03-0.05
0.93-0.041700.00390.11-0.04-0.07
0.91-0.051750.00490.14-0.05-0.09
0.88-0.051800.00610.16-0.05-0.11
0.85-0.061850.00740.19-0.06-0.14
0.71-0.082000.01240.28-0.08-0.29
0.57-0.092100.01510.33-0.09-0.43
0.41-0.092200.01560.32-0.09-0.58
0.27-0.072300.01350.28-0.07-0.73
0.17-0.052400.01010.21-0.06-0.84
0.10-0.042500.00690.15-0.04-0.91

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

spot1401852102502903303K0
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

spot1101401702002603203K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 637 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: WDFC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk