Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:56 PM ET

FORM max pain

Spot (delayed)$99.5
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$120+20.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$84.05±84.5% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.5762 puts / 109 calls
Call wall$190largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3087.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $150

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$130+30.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$105+5.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$110+10.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$100+0.5%173d
Fri, Jan 21$95-4.5%453d
Fri, Jan 19$120+20.6%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1206086112138164190$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot12060901151351704242
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FORM open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot120609011513517055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot608611213816419080%76%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 77.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 1506090115135170+$1K−$1K
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.87-0.01600.00180.32-0.01-0.14
0.84-0.01700.00210.36-0.02-0.17
0.82-0.01750.00220.39-0.02-0.19
0.81-0.01800.00240.41-0.02-0.21
0.78-0.02900.00260.44-0.02-0.24
0.75-0.021000.00280.47-0.02-0.27
0.73-0.021050.00280.48-0.02-0.29
0.72-0.021100.00290.49-0.02-0.30
0.71-0.021150.00300.51-0.02-0.32
0.69-0.021200.00310.52-0.02-0.34
0.68-0.021250.00310.53-0.02-0.35
0.67-0.021300.00320.53-0.02-0.37
0.66-0.021350.00320.54-0.02-0.38

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot45801101401702004K0
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

spot45751051351651954K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 12K call contracts, 10K 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: FORM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk