Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:59 AM ET

XNCR max pain

Spot (delayed)$29.21
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$40+36.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.3±35.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI3.55585 puts / 165 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3097.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$25-14.4%24d
Fri, Dec 18$30+2.7%52d
Fri, Feb 19$40+36.9%115d
Fri, May 21$15-48.6%206d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4081421273440$2M$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot407.512.517.522.53040429429
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XNCR open contracts per strike for Fri, Feb 19.

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, Feb 19

spot407.512.517.522.53040203203
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot81421273440244%69%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 107.512.517.522.53040+$11K−$11K
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, Feb 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.00100.00280.01-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.0012.50.00500.01-0.01-0.04
0.93-0.01150.00800.02-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.0117.50.01180.03-0.01-0.10
0.85-0.01200.01600.04-0.01-0.15
0.79-0.0222.50.02040.05-0.02-0.21
0.72-0.02250.02440.06-0.02-0.28
0.58-0.02300.02990.06-0.02-0.43
0.43-0.02350.03100.07-0.02-0.57
0.31-0.02400.02850.06-0.02-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 11 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.512.517.522.530406K0
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

spot2.51017.525406K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 13K call contracts, 6K 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: XNCR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk