Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:16 PM ET

CG max pain

Spot (delayed)$38.75
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$42.5+9.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.75±35.5% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI2.3215K puts / 7K calls
Call wall$45largest call OI
Put wall$40largest put OI
IV3047.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$327Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $25

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$37.5-3.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$42.5+9.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$47.5+22.6%81d
Fri, Mar 19$42.5+9.7%144d
Thu, Jun 17$40+3.2%234d
Fri, Jan 21$42.5+9.7%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.52338546985100$33M$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot42.522.53547.56072.5956K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CG open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot42.522.53547.56072.59511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot233854698510060%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 2522.53547.56072.595+$204K−$204K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.91-0.0022.50.00830.07-0.00-0.10
0.88-0.00250.01050.09-0.01-0.14
0.84-0.0027.50.01290.10-0.01-0.17
0.80-0.00300.01530.12-0.01-0.21
0.76-0.0132.50.01770.13-0.01-0.26
0.70-0.01350.01980.15-0.01-0.32
0.65-0.0137.50.02160.16-0.01-0.37
0.60-0.01400.02280.16-0.01-0.43
0.54-0.0142.50.02360.17-0.01-0.49
0.49-0.01450.02380.17-0.01-0.54
0.44-0.0147.50.02360.17-0.01-0.60
0.40-0.01500.02310.16-0.01-0.65
0.36-0.0152.50.02220.16-0.01-0.69
0.32-0.01550.02130.15-0.01-0.74

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 27 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot17.532.54557.570908K0
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

spot17.53042.55567.58523K23K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 46K call contracts, 61K 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: CG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk