Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:54 AM ET

CLBT max pain

Spot (delayed)$12
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10-16.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.6±21.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.05888 puts / 18K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3059.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$261Kper 1% move

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$12.5+4.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5+4.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$10-16.7%81d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5+4.2%172d
Fri, Jan 21$5-58.3%452d
Fri, Jan 19$10-16.7%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103814192530$29M$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

spot102.57.512.517.522.5308K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CLBT 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

spot102.57.512.517.522.530207207
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot81217212630136%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.57.512.517.522.530+$136K−$136K
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
0.98-0.002.50.00480.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.0150.01360.01-0.00-0.04
0.90-0.017.50.03380.01-0.01-0.09
0.77-0.01100.08000.02-0.01-0.22
0.50-0.0112.50.12200.02-0.01-0.49
0.26-0.01150.09560.02-0.01-0.73
0.13-0.0017.50.05960.01-0.01-0.86
0.07-0.00200.03620.01-0.00-0.92
0.04-0.0022.50.02230.01-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00250.01420.00-0.00-0.98
0.01-0.00300.00610.000.00-1.00

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53013K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53013K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 27K call contracts, 5K 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: CLBT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk