Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 19, 3:50 AM ET

GFL max pain

Spot (delayed)$40.49
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$40-1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.6±16.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.96104 puts / 108 calls
Call wall$50largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3039.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 21$40-1.2%2d
Fri, Sep 18$40-1.2%30d
Fri, Oct 16$35-13.6%58d
Fri, Dec 18$25-38.3%121d
Fri, Jan 15$40-1.2%149d
Fri, Mar 19$40-1.2%212d
Fri, Apr 16$30-25.9%240d
Fri, Dec 17$35-13.6%485d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot40182635435260$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 — 40 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4017.522.5304050607171
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GFL 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

spot4017.522.53040506088
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot18263543526096%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 31.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 5017.522.530405060+$4K$4K
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
0.9917.50.00260.01-0.00-0.02
0.98200.00370.02-0.00-0.03
0.9722.50.00520.02-0.00-0.04
0.96-0.00250.00740.03-0.01-0.05
0.92-0.00300.01490.04-0.01-0.10
0.82-0.01350.02920.07-0.01-0.20
0.63-0.01400.04520.10-0.01-0.40
0.41-0.01450.04550.10-0.01-0.65
0.25-0.01500.03480.08-0.01-0.83
0.16-0.01550.02470.06-0.01-0.94
0.11-0.01600.01740.05-0.01-0.99

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

spot30354045505513K0
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

spot17.522.53040506016K16K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 30K call contracts, 27K 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: GFL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk