Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 4:55 AM ET

ATMU max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.75
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$40-10.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.05±15.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.87106 puts / 122 calls
Call wall$27.5largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3042.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $27.5

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$42.5-5.0%28d
Fri, Dec 18$45+0.6%56d
Fri, Jan 15$40-10.6%84d
Fri, Apr 16$40-10.6%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40253545556575$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot402532.54047.555658787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ATMU 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

spot402532.54047.5556511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot25354555657581%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 41.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 27.52532.54047.55565+$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
0.95-0.0127.50.00770.02-0.01-0.05
0.93-0.01300.01070.03-0.01-0.07
0.90-0.0132.50.01480.04-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.01350.02020.05-0.01-0.13
0.81-0.0137.50.02700.06-0.02-0.19
0.73-0.02400.03460.07-0.02-0.27
0.63-0.0242.50.04110.08-0.02-0.36
0.52-0.02450.04450.09-0.02-0.47
0.41-0.0247.50.04370.08-0.02-0.58
0.32-0.02500.03960.08-0.02-0.67
0.25-0.0252.50.03410.07-0.01-0.75
0.19-0.01550.02850.06-0.01-0.81
0.15-0.0157.50.02340.05-0.01-0.85
0.12-0.01600.01920.04-0.01-0.88
0.07-0.01650.01290.03-0.00-0.93

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 18 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot27.54552.56075870
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

spot22.532.542.552.562.5808787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 239 call contracts, 144 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: ATMU workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk