Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:01 AM ET

BEKE max pain

Spot (delayed)$17.08
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$17-0.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.45±14.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2210K puts / 45K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3041.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$475Kper 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, Oct 30$18+5.4%4d
Fri, Nov 6$9-47.3%11d
Fri, Nov 13$17-0.5%18d
Fri, Nov 20$17-0.5%25d
Fri, Nov 27$15-12.2%32d
Fri, Dec 4$19+11.2%39d
Fri, Dec 18$17-0.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$17-0.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$17-0.5%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1731018253340$54M$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 — 17 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1731318233015K15K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BEKE 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

spot173131823303434
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot51219263340146%34%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 581418222635+$440K−$440K
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
0.99-0.0080.00520.00-0.00-0.01
0.98-0.00100.01130.01-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.00120.02560.01-0.00-0.05
0.93-0.00130.03890.01-0.00-0.08
0.89-0.00140.05880.02-0.00-0.12
0.82-0.01150.08640.02-0.01-0.19
0.72-0.01160.11830.03-0.01-0.29
0.59-0.01170.14190.03-0.01-0.43
0.45-0.01180.14440.03-0.01-0.58
0.33-0.01190.12810.03-0.01-0.72
0.23-0.01200.10460.03-0.01-0.82
0.17-0.01210.08220.02-0.01-0.89
0.12-0.00220.06370.02-0.01-0.94
0.09-0.00230.04930.01-0.00-0.98
0.07-0.00240.03840.01-0.00-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 25 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot91317192270
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

spot31317.52226.53276K76K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 159K call contracts, 96K 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: BEKE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk