Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:24 AM ET

GGLL max pain

Spot (delayed)$85.83
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$85-1.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$20.9±24.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.523K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$150largest call OI
Put wall$90largest put OI
IV3073.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$189Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$97+13.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$94+9.5%54d
Fri, Jan 15$85-1.0%82d
Fri, Apr 16$85-1.0%173d
Fri, Jan 21$70.15-18.3%453d
Fri, Jan 19$70-18.4%817d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot853772106141175210$57M$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot8537.1560.158096109140625625
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GGLL 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

spot8537.1560.1580961091409696
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot377210614117521098%56%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 64.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 8037.1560.158096109140+$38K−$38K
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
0.79-0.0570.150.01070.12-0.05-0.22
0.78-0.0571.150.01110.12-0.05-0.23
0.76-0.0572.150.01150.13-0.05-0.24
0.72-0.05750.01250.14-0.05-0.28
0.69-0.0677.150.01320.14-0.06-0.31
0.65-0.06800.01400.15-0.06-0.35
0.62-0.0682.150.01450.16-0.06-0.39
0.58-0.06850.01500.16-0.06-0.43
0.55-0.06870.01520.16-0.06-0.46
0.53-0.06880.01530.16-0.06-0.47
0.50-0.06900.01540.16-0.06-0.50
0.49-0.06910.01540.16-0.06-0.52
0.47-0.0692.150.01540.16-0.06-0.54
0.45-0.06940.01530.16-0.06-0.56
0.43-0.06950.01520.16-0.06-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 60 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot37.1566.15891001111397080
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

spot32.156082961091452K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 17K call contracts, 15K 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: GGLL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk