Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:54 AM ET

ABCL max pain

Spot (delayed)$11.74
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$3-74.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8±68.1% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.174K puts / 22K calls
Call wall$7largest call OI
Put wall$4largest put OI
IV3081.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$56Kper 1% move

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$12+2.2%26d
Fri, Dec 18$12+2.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$7-40.4%82d
Fri, Apr 16$10-14.8%173d
Fri, Jan 21$3-74.4%453d
Fri, Jan 19$5-57.4%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32712172227$41M$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3251220274K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ABCL open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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, Jan 21

spot325122027465465
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot2712172227326%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 81.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot25122027+$10K−$10K
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, Jan 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.96-0.0020.00510.01-0.00-0.03
0.94-0.0030.00800.01-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.0040.01130.01-0.00-0.06
0.89-0.0050.01500.02-0.00-0.09
0.83-0.0070.02250.03-0.00-0.14
0.71-0.00100.03080.04-0.00-0.25
0.64-0.00120.03350.05-0.00-0.32
0.56-0.00150.03490.05-0.00-0.41
0.51-0.00170.03490.05-0.00-0.46
0.45-0.00200.03400.05-0.00-0.52
0.41-0.00220.03320.05-0.00-0.56
0.37-0.00250.03170.05-0.00-0.61
0.34-0.00270.03070.05-0.00-0.64

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot161116212612K0
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

spot161116212616K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 91K call contracts, 41K 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: ABCL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk