Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:29 PM ET

WGS max pain

Spot (delayed)$62.65
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$65+3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$23.8±38.0% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.571K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV30148.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$34Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $90

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, Oct 30$69+10.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$82+30.9%11d
Fri, Nov 13$70+11.7%18d
Fri, Nov 20$85+35.7%25d
Fri, Nov 27$79+26.1%32d
Fri, Dec 18$65+3.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$65+3.8%81d
Fri, Mar 19$70+11.7%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot652064108152196240$30M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot65204567.590125170329329
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WGS 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

spot65204567.59012517077
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2064108152196240222%120%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 126.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 90204567.590125170+$11K−$11K
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
0.81-0.07450.00840.06-0.08-0.18
0.79-0.0847.50.00920.07-0.08-0.21
0.76-0.09500.01000.07-0.09-0.24
0.72-0.1052.50.01070.08-0.10-0.27
0.69-0.10550.01130.08-0.10-0.30
0.66-0.1057.50.01180.09-0.10-0.34
0.63-0.11600.01210.09-0.11-0.37
0.60-0.1162.50.01240.09-0.11-0.40
0.57-0.11650.01260.09-0.11-0.43
0.54-0.1167.50.01270.10-0.11-0.46
0.51-0.11700.01280.10-0.11-0.49
0.48-0.1172.50.01280.10-0.11-0.52
0.45-0.11750.01270.09-0.11-0.54
0.43-0.1177.50.01250.09-0.11-0.57
0.40-0.11800.01230.09-0.11-0.59

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 53 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot50667685971105230
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

spot20456275951403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 14K 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: WGS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk