Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:58 AM ET

COLD max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.47
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$12.5-13.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.53±17.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.302K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3039.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$100Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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$15+3.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$15+3.7%54d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5-13.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$15+3.7%173d
Fri, Jan 21$12.5-13.6%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.55913172125$5M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.55101520252K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)COLD 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

spot12.55101520251111
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot81115182225130%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 43.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 15510152025+$63K−$63K
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
0.98-0.0050.00440.00-0.00-0.02
0.96-0.007.50.01280.01-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.00100.03510.01-0.01-0.10
0.78-0.0112.50.09130.02-0.01-0.24
0.47-0.01150.15120.03-0.01-0.56
0.20-0.0117.50.09750.02-0.01-0.81
0.09-0.00200.05140.01-0.00-0.91
0.05-0.0022.50.02940.01-0.00-0.95
0.03-0.00250.01840.01-0.00-0.97

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

spot7.512.517.522.55K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5306K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 11K 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: COLD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk