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.
■ 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 — 24 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GOLD open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.
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 21
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 54.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21
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 21
Call Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.96
—
19
0.0031
0.05
-0.00
-0.05
0.95
-0.00
21.5
0.0041
0.06
-0.00
-0.06
0.93
-0.00
24
0.0052
0.08
-0.00
-0.08
0.88
-0.00
29
0.0078
0.11
-0.01
-0.13
0.81
-0.01
34
0.0099
0.14
-0.01
-0.20
0.75
-0.01
39
0.0114
0.17
-0.01
-0.27
0.69
-0.01
44
0.0125
0.19
-0.01
-0.34
0.63
-0.01
49
0.0132
0.20
-0.01
-0.40
0.57
-0.01
54
0.0135
0.20
-0.01
-0.47
0.52
-0.01
59
0.0136
0.21
-0.01
-0.52
0.47
-0.01
64
0.0134
0.21
-0.01
-0.58
0.43
-0.01
69
0.0130
0.20
-0.01
-0.62
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
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.
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.