Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 8:19 PM ET

WHR max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.53
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$32.5+22.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.78±21.8% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI1.0810K puts / 9K calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3071.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$127Kper 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$32.5+22.5%30d
Fri, Dec 18$32.5+22.5%58d
Fri, Jan 15$42.5+60.2%86d
Fri, Mar 19$35+31.9%149d
Thu, Jun 17$40+50.8%239d
Fri, Sep 17$40+50.8%331d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32.5183145587285$41M$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 — 32.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot32.517.527.537.547.557.5704K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WHR 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

spot32.517.527.537.547.557.570113113
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot183145587285145%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot17.527.537.547.557.570+$110K−$110K
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
0.95-0.0117.50.01420.01-0.01-0.05
0.88-0.01200.02690.02-0.01-0.12
0.78-0.0222.50.04130.03-0.02-0.22
0.65-0.02250.05250.04-0.02-0.35
0.51-0.0227.50.05680.04-0.02-0.49
0.38-0.02300.05430.04-0.02-0.63
0.28-0.0232.50.04720.04-0.02-0.73
0.19-0.02350.03840.03-0.02-0.82
0.14-0.0137.50.03000.02-0.01-0.88
0.09-0.01400.02280.02-0.01-0.93
0.07-0.0142.50.01710.01-0.01-0.96
0.05-0.01450.01270.01-0.01-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.54062.58511516024K0
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

spot1540659013018028K28K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 133K call contracts, 81K 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: WHR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk