Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 8:22 PM ET

COLM max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.82
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$55-9.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.5±14.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2659 puts / 225 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3040.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$22Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $55

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$55-9.6%25d
Fri, Dec 18$60-1.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$55-9.6%81d
Fri, Apr 16$60-1.3%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot55303948576675$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 — 55 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot553040506070102102
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)COLM 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

spot55304050607011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot303948576675105%25%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 37.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 553040506070+$10K−$10K
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
0.98-0.00300.00210.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01350.00360.02-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.01400.00610.03-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.01450.01040.05-0.01-0.09
0.85-0.02500.01750.07-0.02-0.15
0.75-0.02550.02800.09-0.02-0.26
0.59-0.02600.03810.11-0.03-0.42
0.40-0.02650.03870.11-0.02-0.63
0.25-0.02700.03040.09-0.02-0.78
0.16-0.02750.02180.07-0.02-0.87

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

spot3040506070802200
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

spot3045607590220220
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 443 call contracts, 121 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: COLM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk