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

WM max pain

Spot (delayed)$239.38
Max pain · Thu, Jun 17$210-12.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.65±14.5% by Thu, Jun 17
Put/Call OI0.43459 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$240largest call OI
Put wall$220largest put OI
IV3024.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$384Kper 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

spot210120166212258304350$12M$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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot210120150175200250300425425
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WM open contracts per strike for Thu, Jun 17.

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 · Thu, Jun 17

spot21012015017520025030077
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spot12016621225830435041%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Thu, Jun 17

spotflip 230120150175200250300+$226K−$226K
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 · Thu, Jun 17

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.92-0.011850.00290.29-0.02-0.08
0.90-0.011900.00340.33-0.02-0.10
0.88-0.021950.00400.38-0.02-0.12
0.86-0.022000.00460.42-0.02-0.14
0.81-0.022100.00590.52-0.03-0.20
0.74-0.032200.00730.62-0.03-0.27
0.66-0.032300.00850.70-0.03-0.35
0.57-0.032400.00930.74-0.04-0.45
0.48-0.032500.00960.76-0.04-0.54
0.39-0.032600.00930.73-0.04-0.64
0.31-0.032700.00860.68-0.03-0.74
0.24-0.032800.00750.60-0.03-0.82
0.18-0.022900.00640.52-0.02-0.88
0.14-0.023000.00530.43-0.03-0.94
0.11-0.023100.00430.36-0.02-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 29 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