Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:04 AM ET

CDNS max pain

Spot (delayed)$316.5
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$350+10.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$55.6±17.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.759K puts / 11K calls
Call wall$350largest call OI
Put wall$350largest put OI
IV3049.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$669Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $380

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$322.5+1.9%4d
Fri, Nov 6$315-0.5%11d
Fri, Nov 13$335+5.8%18d
Fri, Nov 20$320+1.1%25d
Fri, Nov 27$325+2.7%32d
Fri, Dec 4$320+1.1%39d
Fri, Dec 18$320+1.1%53d
Fri, Jan 15$350+10.6%81d
Fri, Feb 19$310-2.1%116d
Fri, Mar 19$320+1.1%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot350120216312408504600$241M$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 — 350 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3501201652203104004902K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CDNS 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

spot3501201652203104004901616
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot120216312408504600107%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 45.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 380130175240330420520+$729K−$729K
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
0.87-0.092500.00270.32-0.09-0.13
0.84-0.112600.00320.37-0.11-0.16
0.80-0.122700.00380.42-0.12-0.20
0.76-0.132800.00430.48-0.14-0.24
0.71-0.142900.00480.52-0.15-0.29
0.66-0.153000.00520.56-0.16-0.35
0.60-0.163100.00550.59-0.16-0.41
0.54-0.163200.00570.60-0.17-0.46
0.49-0.163300.00580.61-0.17-0.52
0.43-0.163400.00570.60-0.17-0.58
0.38-0.153500.00550.58-0.16-0.63
0.33-0.153600.00530.55-0.15-0.68
0.29-0.143700.00500.52-0.15-0.73
0.25-0.133800.00460.48-0.14-0.77
0.21-0.123900.00420.44-0.13-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 52 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot275312.5332.5352.53854251420
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

spot1602302953403904903K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 28K call contracts, 24K 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: CDNS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk