Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:22 PM ET

FOX max pain

Spot (delayed)$58.41
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$45-23.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.78±11.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.32227 puts / 703 calls
Call wall$55largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3036.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$61Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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$55-5.8%25d
Fri, Dec 18$50-14.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$45-23.0%81d
Fri, Apr 16$55-5.8%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45304254667890$3M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot45304050607085244244
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FOX 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

spot4530405060708511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot30425466789097%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 50304050607085+$27K−$27K
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
0.98-0.01300.00260.02-0.01-0.03
0.97-0.01350.00430.02-0.01-0.04
0.95-0.01400.00740.03-0.01-0.06
0.91-0.01450.01260.05-0.01-0.10
0.84-0.02500.02160.07-0.02-0.17
0.72-0.02550.03600.10-0.02-0.30
0.51-0.02600.04850.11-0.02-0.53
0.30-0.02650.04150.10-0.02-0.77
0.17-0.01700.02780.07-0.02-0.91
0.11-0.01750.01850.05-0.01-0.97
0.06-0.01850.00940.03-0.01-1.00
0.05-0.01900.00720.03-0.01-1.00

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

spot3040506070852450
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

spot3045607590264264
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 797 call contracts, 261 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: FOX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk