Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:06 AM ET

ANGO max pain

Spot (delayed)$12.12
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$12.5+3.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.63±21.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.34134 puts / 397 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3056.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$10-17.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5+3.1%54d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+3.1%82d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5+3.1%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53712162125$1M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.52.510152025129129
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ANGO open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 15.

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 15

spot12.52.5101520255050
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot5913172125179%30%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 52.510152025+$2K−$2K
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 15

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98-0.002.50.00420.00-0.00-0.02
0.94-0.0150.01250.01-0.01-0.05
0.78-0.01100.06690.02-0.01-0.22
0.53-0.0112.50.12620.02-0.01-0.46
0.25-0.01150.10540.02-0.01-0.75
0.14-0.0017.50.06310.01-0.01-0.87
0.09-0.00200.04100.01-0.00-0.92
0.07-0.0022.50.02900.01-0.00-0.95
0.05-0.00250.02190.01-0.00-0.96

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

spot2.512.517.522.52040
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.530219219
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 692 call contracts, 207 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: ANGO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk