Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Nov 1, 3:11 AM ET

BULL max pain

Spot (delayed)$5.16
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$7.5+45.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.26±24.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.1867K puts / 373K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3065.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$176Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

Event risk before this expiration: 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 6$6+16.3%5d
Fri, Nov 13$6+16.3%12d
Fri, Nov 20$6+16.3%19d
Fri, Nov 27$6+16.3%26d
Fri, Dec 4$5.5+6.6%33d
Fri, Dec 11$7+35.7%40d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5+45.3%47d
Fri, Jan 15$7.5+45.3%75d
Fri, Feb 19$7.5+45.3%110d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.53916222935$704M$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.53078K78K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)BULL 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

spot7.52.57.512.517.522.5305K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3916222935198%66%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 102.57.512.517.522.530+$137K−$137K
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
0.97-0.002.50.02920.00-0.00-0.03
0.62-0.0050.24830.01-0.00-0.39
0.17-0.007.50.15160.01-0.00-0.85
0.07-0.00100.06440.00-0.00-0.96
0.04-0.0012.50.03440.00-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.00150.02160.00—-1.00
0.02-0.0017.50.01500.00—-1.00
0.010.00200.01120.00—-1.00
0.010.0022.50.00870.00—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 9 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot146.5911.52032K0
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

spot147101325204K204K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 821K call contracts, 176K 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: BULL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk