Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:15 PM ET

ZS max pain

Spot (delayed)$260.15
Max pain · Fri, Feb 19$120-53.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$73.53±28.3% by Fri, Feb 19
Put/Call OI0.332K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$120largest call OI
Put wall$125largest put OI
IV3064.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$305Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $115

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, Oct 30$220-15.4%3d
Fri, Nov 6$232.5-10.6%10d
Fri, Nov 13$225-13.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$190-27.0%24d
Fri, Nov 27$225-13.5%31d
Fri, Dec 4$245-5.8%38d
Fri, Dec 18$180-30.8%52d
Fri, Jan 15$180-30.8%80d
Fri, Feb 19$120-53.9%115d
Fri, Mar 19$180-30.8%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12070124178232286340$114M$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot120701101451802303002K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZS 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

spot120701101451802303001717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spot70124178232286340114%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Feb 19

spotflip 11580115150185240310+$63K−$63K
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
0.84-0.091950.00250.35-0.10-0.16
0.83-0.092000.00270.37-0.10-0.17
0.79-0.112100.00310.42-0.12-0.21
0.76-0.122200.00340.46-0.13-0.25
0.71-0.132300.00370.50-0.14-0.29
0.67-0.142400.00390.53-0.14-0.33
0.63-0.142500.00410.55-0.15-0.37
0.59-0.152600.00420.57-0.15-0.42
0.55-0.152700.00430.58-0.16-0.46
0.51-0.152800.00440.58-0.16-0.50
0.47-0.152900.00430.58-0.16-0.54
0.43-0.153000.00430.57-0.15-0.58
0.39-0.153100.00420.56-0.15-0.62
0.36-0.153200.00410.55-0.14-0.66
0.33-0.143300.00390.53-0.14-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 40 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot140177.5202.5227.5252.5277.51K0
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

spot601201802202703808K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 116K call contracts, 97K 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: ZS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk