Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 2:11 AM ET

FRSH max pain

Spot (delayed)$15.32
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10-34.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$3.18±20.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.071K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3062.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$186Kper 1% move

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$10-34.7%28d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5-18.4%56d
Fri, Jan 15$10-34.7%84d
Fri, Feb 19$10-34.7%119d
Fri, May 21$10-34.7%210d
Fri, Jan 21$7.5-51.0%455d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103712162125$10M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot102.57.512.517.522.55K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FRSH 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

spot102.57.512.517.522.56262
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot5913172125159%51%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.57.512.517.522.5+$113K−$113K
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
0.99—2.50.00140.00-0.00-0.01
0.99—50.00400.00-0.00-0.01
0.970.007.50.01020.01-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.00100.02660.01-0.00-0.07
0.81-0.0112.50.06300.02-0.01-0.18
0.59-0.01150.09950.03-0.01-0.41
0.36-0.0117.50.09420.03-0.01-0.65
0.20-0.01200.06810.02-0.01-0.80
0.12-0.0122.50.04510.01-0.00-0.90
0.07-0.00250.02930.01-0.00-0.95

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.58K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.59K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 3K 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: FRSH workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk