Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 3, 3:09 PM ET

XNDU max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.3
Max pain · Fri, Oct 16$15+32.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5±44.2% by Fri, Oct 16
Put/Call OI0.844K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV30124.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$6Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Aug 7 · CPI release Wed, Aug 12 · Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Aug 7$11-2.7%4d
Fri, Aug 14$12+6.2%11d
Fri, Aug 21$12.5+10.6%18d
Fri, Aug 28$12+6.2%25d
Fri, Sep 4$11-2.7%32d
Fri, Sep 18$12.5+10.6%46d
Fri, Oct 16$15+32.7%74d
Fri, Jan 15$15+32.7%165d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1531324344555$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot152.51017.52540551K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)XNDU open contracts per strike for Fri, Oct 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, Oct 16

spot152.51017.525405533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spot51525354555216%66%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 117.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Oct 16

spotflip 52.51017.5254055+$12K$12K
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, Oct 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.002.50.00570.00-0.00-0.02
0.93-0.0150.01730.01-0.01-0.07
0.83-0.017.50.03820.01-0.01-0.16
0.68-0.01100.05930.02-0.01-0.31
0.52-0.0212.50.06670.02-0.01-0.47
0.39-0.01150.06290.02-0.01-0.60
0.30-0.0117.50.05500.02-0.01-0.69
0.23-0.01200.04700.01-0.01-0.76
0.18-0.0122.50.03990.01-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.01250.03390.01-0.01-0.84
0.10-0.01300.02480.01-0.01-0.90
0.07-0.01350.01860.01-0.01-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1101214172K0
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

spot1711.51620.5405K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 9K 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: XNDU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk