Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:23 PM ET

FHI max pain

Spot (delayed)$56.31
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$42.5-24.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6±10.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.3614 puts / 39 calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$32.5largest put OI
IV3033.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$52.5-6.8%24d
Fri, Dec 18$57.5+2.1%52d
Fri, Jan 15$42.5-24.5%80d
Fri, Apr 16$37.5-33.4%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot42.5334252617180$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 — 42.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot42.532.542.552.562.567.5801515
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FHI 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

spot42.532.542.552.562.567.58011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot33425261718066%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 27.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 42.532.542.552.562.567.580+$2K−$2K
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
0.98-0.0132.50.00370.02-0.01-0.03
0.97-0.01350.00490.02-0.01-0.04
0.93-0.0142.50.01180.04-0.01-0.08
0.81-0.01500.03010.07-0.02-0.20
0.73-0.0252.50.03940.09-0.02-0.29
0.38-0.02600.04780.10-0.02-0.66
0.28-0.0262.50.04130.09-0.02-0.76
0.21-0.01650.03400.08-0.02-0.84
0.16-0.0167.50.02720.06-0.01-0.89
0.12-0.01700.02160.05-0.01-0.93
0.04-0.01800.00870.03-0.00-0.99

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

spot355055606580150
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

spot32.542.552.562.572.53232
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 65 call contracts, 49 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: FHI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk