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

CLBT max pain

Spot (delayed)$12
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$10-16.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.65±63.8% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.7319 puts / 26 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3059.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$16per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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$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

spot105912161923$1M$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 19

spot105101522.51010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)CLBT open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot105101522.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot8111417202370%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 56.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 7.55101522.5+$50−$50
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.900.0050.01300.03-0.00-0.08
0.82-0.007.50.02290.04-0.00-0.14
0.73-0.00100.03220.06-0.00-0.24
0.63-0.0012.50.03720.06-0.00-0.34
0.55-0.00150.03860.07-0.00-0.43
0.49-0.0017.50.03800.07-0.00-0.51
0.40-0.0022.50.03520.07-0.00-0.64

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