Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 8, 3:39 AM ET

DXYZ max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.11
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$45+44.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$17.8±57.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI4.091K puts / 264 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3053.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$13Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

Event risk before this expiration: CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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 16$35+12.5%8d
Fri, Nov 20$30-3.6%43d
Fri, Dec 18$25-19.6%71d
Fri, Mar 19$30-3.6%162d
Fri, Jan 21$45+44.6%470d
Fri, Jan 19$40+28.6%834d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45182329344045$2M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot4517.522.53040543543
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)DXYZ open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot4517.522.530403636
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot18232934404572%58%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 2017.522.53040+$8K−$8K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.88-0.0017.50.00850.07-0.00-0.11
0.84-0.00200.01040.08-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.0122.50.01200.10-0.01-0.19
0.76-0.01250.01320.11-0.01-0.23
0.68-0.01300.01470.12-0.01-0.32
0.61-0.01350.01540.13-0.01-0.39
0.55-0.01400.01550.14-0.01-0.46
0.50-0.01450.01530.14-0.01-0.51

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

spot12.5203045607518K0
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

spot12.5203045607521K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 80K call contracts, 45K 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: DXYZ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk