Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:37 PM ET

CAMT max pain

Spot (delayed)$132
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$120-9.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.25±25.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.5710K puts / 18K calls
Call wall$140largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3072.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.3Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $110

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$150+13.6%30d
Fri, Dec 18$125-5.3%58d
Fri, Jan 15$120-9.1%86d
Fri, Feb 19$145+9.8%121d
Fri, May 21$150+13.6%212d
Fri, Dec 17$120-9.1%422d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1203084138192246300$258M$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12030701101501902604K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CAMT 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

spot120307011015019026033
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3084138192246300186%62%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 1103070110150190260+$656K−$656K
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
0.87-0.04950.00450.13-0.05-0.12
0.84-0.051000.00520.15-0.06-0.15
0.81-0.061050.00600.17-0.07-0.19
0.77-0.071100.00680.19-0.07-0.23
0.73-0.071150.00740.21-0.08-0.27
0.68-0.081200.00800.23-0.09-0.31
0.64-0.091250.00850.24-0.09-0.35
0.59-0.091300.00890.25-0.09-0.40
0.55-0.091350.00910.25-0.09-0.45
0.50-0.091400.00920.26-0.09-0.49
0.46-0.091450.00920.26-0.09-0.54
0.42-0.091500.00910.25-0.09-0.58
0.38-0.091550.00890.24-0.08-0.62
0.34-0.091600.00860.24-0.08-0.66
0.31-0.081650.00820.23-0.07-0.69

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 45 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot35851201551902505K0
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

spot30701101501902606K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 18K 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: CAMT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk