Options Structure
Max pain levels, expected move ranges and gamma exposure direction across 14 major instruments. Options market structure reveals where dealers are hedged, where price is likely to gravitate into expiry, and the implied volatility-based expected move range for the current cycle.
Max Pain theory: Options market makers hedge their books continuously. Max pain is the price at expiry where the aggregate options market inflicts maximum financial pain on options buyers — i.e. the price where the total value of expiring options is minimised. Price gravitates toward max pain as expiry approaches, especially in low-volume periods. A large max pain distance signals current price has moved significantly from this gravitational level.
Gamma Exposure Direction
| GEX Direction | Count |
|---|---|
| unknown | 94 |
| negative | 340 |
Negative GEX: Dealers are short gamma — they must sell when price falls and buy when it rises, amplifying moves. Expect higher volatility and trending behaviour. Positive GEX: Dealers are long gamma — they buy dips and sell rips, dampening volatility. Expect mean-reverting behaviour.
Current Price vs Max Pain
| Symbol | Price | Max Pain | Distance | Upper EM | Lower EM | GEX Dir |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMD | 420.99 | 85.00 | +79.8% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| NVDA | 222.32 | 50.00 | +77.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| QQQ | 705.88 | 420.00 | +40.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| TSLA | 409.99 | 250.00 | +39.0% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| SPY | 738.65 | 500.00 | +32.3% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| AAPL | 297.84 | 210.00 | +29.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| IWM | 275.97 | 200.00 | +27.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| AMZN | 264.86 | 200.00 | +24.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| MSFT | 423.54 | 330.00 | +22.1% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| META | 598.86 | 500.00 | +16.5% | n/a | n/a | negative |
| NDX | 27122.73 | 31000.00 | -14.3% | n/a | n/a | n/a |