Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 18, 5:25 PM ET

BKCH max pain

Spot (delayed)$75.21
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$105+39.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.7±32.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI2.28157 puts / 69 calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$105largest put OI
IV3066.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $77

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, Jan 15$105+39.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$75-0.3%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10545597387101115$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 — 105 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot10545607785971157070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BKCH 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

spot105456077859711511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4559738710111590%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 72.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 774560778597115+$4K−$4K
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
0.92-0.02450.00440.06-0.02-0.09
0.88-0.03500.00610.08-0.03-0.13
0.84-0.03550.00790.10-0.04-0.18
0.78-0.04600.00960.12-0.04-0.23
0.65-0.05700.01220.15-0.05-0.36
0.59-0.05750.01290.16-0.05-0.42
0.56-0.05770.01310.16-0.05-0.45
0.55-0.05780.01320.17-0.05-0.46
0.53-0.05800.01320.17-0.05-0.48
0.47-0.05850.01320.17-0.05-0.54
0.41-0.05900.01280.16-0.05-0.59
0.36-0.05950.01230.16-0.05-0.64
0.34-0.05970.01200.15-0.05-0.66

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4560757890110380
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

spot45647382911107070
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 74 call contracts, 157 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: BKCH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk