Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 1:32 AM ET

AXP max pain

Spot (delayed)$313.23
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$320+2.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$29.8±9.5% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2420K puts / 81K calls
Call wall$480largest call OI
Put wall$280largest put OI
IV3025.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3.4Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $350

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, Oct 30$312.5-0.2%7d
Fri, Nov 6$310-1.0%14d
Fri, Nov 13$315+0.6%21d
Fri, Nov 20$320+2.2%28d
Fri, Nov 27$315+0.6%35d
Fri, Dec 4$310-1.0%42d
Fri, Dec 18$320+2.2%56d
Fri, Jan 15$320+2.2%84d
Fri, Feb 19$320+2.2%119d
Fri, Mar 19$310-1.0%147d
Fri, Apr 16$280-10.6%175d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot320115204293382471560$986M$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 — 320 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot32011516021030039048048K48K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)AXP 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

spot320115160210300390480260260
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot11520429338247156098%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 350185230290350410470+$3.2M−$3.2M
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
0.98-0.012400.00120.09-0.02-0.03
0.96-0.022500.00200.13-0.02-0.04
0.94-0.032600.00300.19-0.03-0.07
0.90-0.042700.00440.27-0.04-0.11
0.85-0.062800.00600.36-0.06-0.16
0.78-0.072900.00770.45-0.07-0.23
0.69-0.083000.00930.53-0.08-0.32
0.59-0.093100.01050.58-0.09-0.42
0.48-0.093200.01090.60-0.09-0.53
0.38-0.083300.01050.57-0.09-0.64
0.28-0.073400.00940.51-0.08-0.74
0.20-0.063500.00790.43-0.07-0.83
0.14-0.053600.00620.34-0.06-0.91
0.10-0.043700.00470.26-0.04-0.96
0.06-0.033800.00340.20-0.01-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 51 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot280307.5325342.53654005790
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

spot15022030034041049050K50K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 162K call contracts, 81K 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: AXP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk