Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:35 AM ET

GCT max pain

Spot (delayed)$58.3
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$20-65.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$14.2±24.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.272K puts / 7K calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3076.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$200Kper 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$55-5.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$60+2.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$20-65.7%81d
Fri, Apr 16$40-31.4%172d
Fri, Jan 21$35-40.0%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2031936526985$33M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot202.512.522.5406080928928
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GCT 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

spot202.512.522.540608055
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot82339547085236%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 63.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.512.522.5406080+$67K−$67K
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
0.98-0.01250.00160.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01300.00290.02-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.01350.00510.03-0.01-0.05
0.90-0.02400.00860.05-0.02-0.10
0.84-0.03450.01310.07-0.03-0.16
0.75-0.03500.01750.09-0.04-0.25
0.64-0.04550.02070.10-0.04-0.36
0.53-0.04600.02220.11-0.04-0.47
0.43-0.04650.02190.11-0.04-0.58
0.34-0.04700.02040.10-0.04-0.67
0.26-0.03750.01810.09-0.04-0.75
0.20-0.03800.01540.08-0.03-0.81
0.15-0.02850.01280.07-0.03-0.87

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 22 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.522.54060803K0
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

spot2.512.522.54060806K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K call contracts, 8K 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: GCT workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk