Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 1:38 AM ET

EQPT max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.01
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$15-6.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.65±35.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.188K puts / 47K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV30106.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$274Kper 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$17.5+9.3%25d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5+9.3%53d
Fri, Jan 15$15-6.3%81d
Fri, Apr 16$15-6.3%172d
Fri, Dec 17$15-6.3%417d
Fri, Jan 21$15-6.3%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1551321293745$77M$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot15512.520304520K20K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EQPT 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

spot15512.5203045170170
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot51321293745210%79%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 95.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 15512.5203045+$241K−$241K
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
0.97-0.0050.00510.01-0.00-0.03
0.94-0.017.50.01220.01-0.01-0.06
0.88-0.01100.02380.02-0.01-0.12
0.78-0.0112.50.03800.02-0.01-0.22
0.65-0.02150.04970.03-0.02-0.35
0.52-0.0217.50.05470.03-0.02-0.48
0.40-0.02200.05340.03-0.02-0.60
0.30-0.0122.50.04830.03-0.01-0.70
0.23-0.01250.04160.02-0.01-0.78
0.13-0.01300.02890.02-0.01-0.88
0.08-0.01350.01940.01-0.01-0.94
0.05-0.00400.01300.01-0.01-0.98

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.520304520K0
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

spot2.51017.5254021K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 52K call contracts, 11K 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: EQPT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk