Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:50 AM ET

FSK max pain

Spot (delayed)$10.44
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$12.5+19.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.15±11.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI1.533K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3028.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$47Kper 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$12.5+19.7%26d
Fri, Dec 18$15+43.7%54d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+19.7%82d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5+19.7%173d
Fri, May 21$10-4.2%208d
Fri, Jan 21$12.5+19.7%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.581013151820$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.57.51012.51517.5202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)FSK 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

spot12.57.51012.51517.520230230
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot8101315182082%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 25.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot7.51012.51517.520+$54K−$54K
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
0.93-0.007.50.05330.01-0.00-0.13
0.68-0.00100.29290.02-0.00-0.45
0.14-0.0012.50.13530.01-0.00-0.87
0.07-0.00150.05460.01-0.00-0.93
0.05-0.0017.50.03270.01-0.00-0.95
0.04-0.00200.02310.00-0.00-0.96

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

spot5101520259K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53011K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 31K call contracts, 23K 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: FSK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk