Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 21, 2:48 AM ET

GOLD max pain

Spot (delayed)$45.46
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$39-14.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$11.4±25.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.18316 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$49largest call OI
Put wall$29largest put OI
IV3048.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$87Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $39

Event risk before this expiration: 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, Oct 16$44-3.2%25d
Fri, Nov 20$44-3.2%60d
Fri, Dec 18$39-14.2%88d
Fri, Jan 15$39-14.2%116d
Fri, Mar 19$39-14.2%179d
Thu, Jun 17$29-36.2%269d
Fri, Sep 17$54+18.8%361d
Fri, Jan 21$24-47.2%487d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot39192939495969$4M$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 — 39 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot391929394959691K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GOLD 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

spot3919293949596944
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot19293949596982%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 55.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 39192939495969+$61K$61K
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
0.98-0.00190.00210.01-0.01-0.02
0.97-0.01240.00410.02-0.01-0.04
0.94-0.01290.00800.03-0.01-0.06
0.87-0.01340.01520.06-0.01-0.13
0.75-0.02390.02240.08-0.02-0.25
0.61-0.02440.02710.10-0.02-0.39
0.48-0.02490.02810.10-0.02-0.53
0.36-0.02540.02590.10-0.02-0.64
0.28-0.02590.02220.09-0.02-0.73
0.22-0.02640.01860.08-0.02-0.79
0.18-0.02690.01570.07-0.02-0.83

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

spot19294450599280
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

spot1929394959692K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: GOLD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk