Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:05 AM ET

AVBP max pain

Spot (delayed)$21
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$15-28.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.9±37.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.09189 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV30100.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$21Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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$20-4.8%25d
Fri, Jan 15$15-28.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$17.5-16.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15101826344250$3M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot15101520253545738738
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AVBP 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

spot1510152025354588
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot101826344250171%83%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 102.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 15101520253545+$9K−$9K
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
0.92-0.01100.01150.01-0.01-0.08
0.87-0.0212.50.01770.02-0.01-0.12
0.81-0.02150.02570.03-0.02-0.19
0.72-0.0217.50.03400.03-0.02-0.27
0.61-0.02200.03980.04-0.02-0.37
0.51-0.0222.50.04140.04-0.02-0.47
0.43-0.02250.03960.04-0.02-0.55
0.31-0.02300.03300.04-0.02-0.67
0.24-0.02350.02700.03-0.02-0.74
0.20-0.02400.02250.03-0.02-0.78
0.16-0.02450.01910.03-0.02-0.82
0.14-0.02500.01650.02-0.02-0.84

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

spot15202535453K0
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

spot2.51017.525403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 1K 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: AVBP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk