Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:44 AM ET

GDRX max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.55
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$2.5-29.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.35±38.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.132K puts / 15K calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3039.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$33Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$2.5-29.5%26d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5-29.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5-29.5%82d
Fri, Apr 16$2.5-29.5%173d
Fri, Jan 21$2.5-29.5%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.51246810$7M$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.50.51.52.57.512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GDRX 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

spot2.50.51.52.57.54343
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1246810317%70%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 95.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 512510+$32K−$32K
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
0.99-0.000.50.01110.00-0.00-0.01
0.97-0.0010.02900.00-0.00-0.03
0.95-0.001.50.05580.00-0.00-0.05
0.91-0.0020.10020.00-0.00-0.09
0.84-0.002.50.17630.00-0.00-0.15
0.16-0.0050.21630.00-0.00-0.82
0.07-0.007.50.08210.00-0.00-0.92
0.04-0.00100.04930.00-0.00-0.94

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

spot1251012K0
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

spot0.51.52.57.513K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K 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: GDRX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk