Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 19, 11:37 AM ET

DNN max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.32
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$1.5-35.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.68±29.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.1725K puts / 152K calls
Call wall$4largest call OI
Put wall$1.5largest put OI
IV3063.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$168Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $1.5

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, Oct 23$0.5-78.4%4d
Fri, Oct 30$0.5-78.4%11d
Fri, Nov 6$0.5-78.4%18d
Fri, Nov 13$2.5+7.9%25d
Fri, Nov 20$3+29.5%32d
Fri, Nov 27$0.5-78.4%39d
Fri, Dec 18$3.5+51.1%60d
Fri, Jan 15$1.5-35.3%88d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1.5123456$35M$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 — 1.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1.50.51.52.53.54.55.536K36K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DNN 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

spot1.50.51.52.53.54.55.5382382
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot123456201%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 69.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 1.50.51.52.53.54.55.5+$45K−$45K
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
0.98-0.000.50.02390.00-0.00-0.03
0.96-0.0010.07150.00-0.00-0.05
0.90-0.001.50.19320.00-0.00-0.11
0.74-0.0020.44820.00-0.00-0.27
0.48-0.002.50.52800.01-0.00-0.54
0.30-0.0030.42190.00-0.00-0.72
0.20-0.003.50.31340.00-0.00-0.83
0.14-0.0040.23160.00-0.00-0.90
0.10-0.004.50.17260.00-0.00-0.95
0.07-0.0050.13000.00-0.00-0.98
0.05-0.005.50.09890.000.00-0.99
0.040.0060.07600.00—-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

spot0.51.52.53.54.52K0
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

spot0.523.556.560K60K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 281K call contracts, 55K 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: DNN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk