Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:58 AM ET

CCXI max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.26
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10-2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.18±40.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.12255 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV30144.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$14Kper 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, Nov 20$10-2.5%25d
Fri, Dec 18$10-2.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$10-2.5%81d
Fri, Feb 19$10-2.5%116d
Fri, May 21$15+46.2%207d
Fri, Jan 21$5-51.3%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot104812172125$3M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1047.51116252K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CCXI 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

spot1047.51116254141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4812172125199%85%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 109.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 547.5111625+$12K−$12K
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
0.94-0.0140.01410.01-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.0150.02160.01-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.0160.03150.01-0.01-0.12
0.80-0.017.50.04930.01-0.01-0.20
0.70-0.0190.06400.02-0.01-0.30
0.62-0.01100.06930.02-0.01-0.37
0.56-0.01110.07110.02-0.01-0.44
0.47-0.0112.50.06970.02-0.01-0.53
0.36-0.01150.06260.02-0.01-0.64
0.33-0.01160.05920.02-0.01-0.67
0.28-0.0117.50.05430.02-0.01-0.72
0.23-0.01200.04670.01-0.01-0.78
0.15-0.01250.03480.01-0.01-0.85

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot5912.51622.520K0
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

spot1611162120K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 59K call contracts, 27K 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: CCXI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk