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

WM max pain

Spot (delayed)$239.38
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$200-16.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29±12.1% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI0.71131 puts / 185 calls
Call wall$210largest call OI
Put wall$200largest put OI
IV3024.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$39Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $210

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

spot200145176207238269300$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, Apr 16

spot2001451651852102502903939
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WM open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot20014516518521025029022
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot14517620723826930045%21%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 210145165185210250290+$15K−$15K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.011850.00260.19-0.01-0.06
0.93-0.011900.00320.23-0.02-0.07
0.91-0.021950.00390.27-0.02-0.09
0.89-0.022000.00470.32-0.02-0.12
0.83-0.032100.00650.42-0.03-0.17
0.75-0.032200.00830.52-0.03-0.25
0.66-0.042300.01000.60-0.04-0.35
0.56-0.042400.01100.65-0.04-0.46
0.45-0.042500.01110.65-0.04-0.57
0.35-0.042600.01040.61-0.04-0.68
0.26-0.032700.00910.54-0.04-0.78
0.19-0.032800.00760.45-0.03-0.86
0.14-0.022900.00600.37-0.03-0.92
0.10-0.023000.00470.29-0.03-0.97

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 22 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