Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:49 AM ET

WHD max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.15
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$60-5.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.2±16.2% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.1291 puts / 745 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3039.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$26Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $65

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$60-5.0%25d
Fri, Dec 18$60-5.0%53d
Fri, Feb 19$60-5.0%116d
Fri, Mar 19$65+2.9%144d
Fri, May 21$75+18.8%207d
Fri, Dec 17$70+10.8%417d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot603044587286100$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot603045607590601601
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WHD open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot6030456075901717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot304458728610066%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 34.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 653045607590+$22K−$22K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.00300.00150.01-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00350.00260.02-0.01-0.02
0.96-0.01400.00460.03-0.01-0.04
0.93-0.01450.00810.05-0.01-0.07
0.88-0.01500.01370.07-0.01-0.12
0.79-0.02550.02130.10-0.02-0.21
0.66-0.02600.02850.13-0.02-0.35
0.51-0.02650.03200.14-0.02-0.51
0.36-0.02700.03030.14-0.02-0.67
0.24-0.02750.02510.11-0.02-0.80
0.15-0.01800.01890.09-0.01-0.89
0.09-0.01850.01330.06-0.01-0.96
0.06-0.01900.00900.04—-1.00
0.04-0.00950.00590.03—-1.00
0.02-0.001000.00380.02—-1.00

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

spot35506580959050
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

spot25405570851001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 961 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: WHD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk