Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 8:29 PM ET

WM max pain

Spot (delayed)$239.38
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$210-12.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.45±7.3% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.542K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3024.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2.7Mper 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$220-8.1%28d
Fri, Dec 18$210-12.3%56d
Fri, Jan 15$210-12.3%84d
Fri, Mar 19$220-8.1%147d
Fri, Apr 16$200-16.5%175d
Thu, Jun 17$210-12.3%237d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot210105150195240285330$36M$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 — 210 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot2101051401702002603201K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WM 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

spot210105140170200260320228228
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot13017021025029033091%19%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 23.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 230135160185220270320+$1.1M−$1.1M
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
0.98-0.011850.00130.04-0.01-0.02
0.98-0.011900.00180.05-0.01-0.03
0.97-0.021950.00240.06-0.02-0.04
0.96-0.022000.00340.08-0.02-0.05
0.92-0.032100.00630.14-0.04-0.09
0.84-0.052200.01100.23-0.05-0.17
0.71-0.072300.01650.32-0.07-0.30
0.52-0.072400.01960.37-0.07-0.49
0.34-0.072500.01770.34-0.07-0.67
0.20-0.052600.01310.27-0.05-0.80
0.12-0.042700.00870.19-0.04-0.89
0.07-0.032800.00560.13-0.04-0.94
0.04-0.022900.00360.09-0.03-0.98
0.03-0.013000.00240.06-0.01-0.99
0.02-0.013100.00160.04-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1051351651952503103K0
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

spot1001351702102803505K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 25K call contracts, 13K 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: WM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk