Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 2:39 PM ET

GEMI max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.17
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$5+57.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.23±38.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.436K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3097.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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, Oct 23$1-68.5%2d
Fri, Oct 30$5+57.7%9d
Fri, Nov 6$4+26.2%16d
Fri, Nov 13$4+26.2%23d
Fri, Nov 20$5+57.7%30d
Fri, Nov 27$5+57.7%37d
Fri, Dec 18$5+57.7%58d
Fri, Jan 15$5+57.7%86d
Fri, Apr 16$5+57.7%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot53711151923$16M$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot52.57.512.517.522.54K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GEMI 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

spot52.57.512.517.522.59090
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3711151923199%90%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 99.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 102.57.512.517.522.5+$2K−$2K
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
0.79-0.002.50.20080.01-0.00-0.22
0.26-0.0050.21180.01-0.00-0.77
0.12-0.007.50.11050.00-0.00-0.92
0.07-0.00100.06980.00-0.00-0.97
0.05-0.0012.50.05010.00-0.00-0.99
0.04-0.00150.03890.00-0.00-1.00
0.04-0.0017.50.03170.00-0.00-1.00
0.03-0.00200.02680.00-0.00-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 8 strikes around the money — all 9 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot12.545.57101K0
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

spot13.568.511207K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 33K call contracts, 16K 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: GEMI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk