Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 11:02 PM ET

ETHE max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.52
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$18-2.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.6±19.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.102K puts / 21K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3049.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$223Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $6

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 30$19+2.6%3d
Fri, Nov 6$19+2.6%10d
Fri, Nov 13$19.5+5.3%17d
Fri, Nov 20$19.5+5.3%24d
Fri, Nov 27$19.5+5.3%31d
Fri, Dec 18$16-13.6%52d
Fri, Jan 15$18-2.8%80d
Fri, Apr 16$21+13.4%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1831426374960$51M$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 — 18 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot18316263646565K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ETHE 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

spot18316263646563030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot81829395060154%48%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 631626364656+$54K−$54K
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
0.92-0.01120.02240.01-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01130.02950.02-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.01140.03890.02-0.01-0.13
0.82-0.01150.05070.02-0.01-0.18
0.76-0.01160.06440.03-0.01-0.23
0.69-0.01170.07820.03-0.01-0.31
0.60-0.01180.08840.03-0.01-0.40
0.51-0.01190.09230.04-0.01-0.49
0.43-0.01200.08980.03-0.01-0.57
0.35-0.01210.08320.03-0.01-0.65
0.29-0.01220.07470.03-0.01-0.71
0.24-0.01230.06600.03-0.01-0.76
0.20-0.01240.05780.03-0.01-0.80
0.17-0.01250.05040.02-0.01-0.84
0.14-0.01260.04400.02-0.01-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 55 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1518.520.522.524.52830
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

spot11420.52740538K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 55K call contracts, 13K 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: ETHE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk