Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 1:07 AM ET

APPF max pain

Spot (delayed)$211.6
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$185-12.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$37.35±17.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.13222 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$230largest call OI
Put wall$190largest put OI
IV3049.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$516Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $160

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$220+4.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$180-14.9%54d
Fri, Jan 15$185-12.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$210-0.8%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot18575128181234287340$20M$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 — 185 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot18575115150185240310912912
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APPF 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

spot1857511515018524031011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot75124173222271320123%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 46.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 16075120160190240300+$334K−$334K
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
0.86-0.071700.00450.23-0.07-0.14
0.83-0.071750.00510.26-0.07-0.17
0.80-0.081800.00570.29-0.08-0.20
0.76-0.091850.00630.31-0.09-0.24
0.73-0.101900.00680.34-0.10-0.28
0.69-0.101950.00730.36-0.10-0.31
0.65-0.102000.00770.37-0.11-0.35
0.57-0.112100.00820.40-0.11-0.44
0.49-0.112200.00840.40-0.12-0.52
0.41-0.112300.00820.39-0.11-0.60
0.34-0.102400.00770.37-0.11-0.67
0.28-0.102500.00700.34-0.10-0.74
0.22-0.092600.00620.30-0.09-0.80
0.18-0.072700.00540.27-0.08-0.84
0.14-0.062800.00460.23-0.07-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot751301601902403001K0
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

spot751101451802303001K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 4K call contracts, 446 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: APPF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk