Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:36 AM ET

EYE max pain

Spot (delayed)$18.67
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$20+7.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.28±22.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.42780 puts / 551 calls
Call wall$30largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3057.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$128per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

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, Nov 20$15-19.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-6.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$20+7.1%82d
Fri, Apr 16$2.5-86.6%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2051219263340$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2051015202535245245
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)EYE 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

spot205101520253511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot51219263340181%53%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 59.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 7.551015202535+$3K−$3K
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
0.98-0.0050.00300.00-0.00-0.02
0.97-0.017.50.00650.01-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01100.01300.01-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.0112.50.02500.02-0.01-0.10
0.81-0.01150.04560.02-0.01-0.19
0.66-0.0117.50.07110.03-0.01-0.34
0.47-0.01200.08080.04-0.01-0.54
0.31-0.0122.50.06900.03-0.01-0.71
0.21-0.01250.05270.03-0.01-0.81
0.11-0.01300.02990.02-0.01-0.93
0.06-0.01350.01810.01-0.01-0.97
0.04-0.00400.01170.01-0.00-0.99

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

spot5152025352290
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

spot2.51017.52540245245
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 798 call contracts, 787 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: EYE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk