Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 6:24 AM ET

XENE max pain

Spot (delayed)$36.1
Max pain · Fri, Dec 15$35-3.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.35±53.6% by Fri, Dec 15
Put/Call OI0.1120 puts / 179 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3054.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

Event risk before this expiration: 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$37.5+3.9%23d
Fri, Dec 18$35-3.0%51d
Fri, Jan 15$40+10.8%79d
Fri, Apr 16$37.5+3.9%170d
Fri, Jan 21$40+10.8%450d
Fri, Dec 15$35-3.0%779d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot352541577389105$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 15

spot352532.54047.555654040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XENE open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 15.

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 15

spot352532.54047.5556511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 15

spot254157738910556%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 48.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 15

spotflip 352532.54047.55565+$808−$808
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.83-0.00250.00920.13-0.00-0.17
0.80-0.0027.50.01050.14-0.00-0.20
0.77-0.00300.01180.16-0.01-0.24
0.73-0.0032.50.01290.17-0.01-0.28
0.69-0.00350.01380.18-0.01-0.32
0.66-0.0037.50.01460.19-0.01-0.37
0.62-0.01400.01520.20-0.01-0.41
0.59-0.0142.50.01570.20-0.01-0.45
0.56-0.01450.01600.20-0.01-0.49
0.53-0.0147.50.01610.21-0.01-0.53
0.49-0.01500.01620.21-0.01-0.57
0.47-0.0152.50.01610.21-0.01-0.61

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot203547.560751006K0
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

spot17.532.547.562.577.51056K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K call contracts, 2K 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: XENE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk