Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:04 AM ET

GPI max pain

Spot (delayed)$244.97
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$270+10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$44.25±18.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.95261 puts / 276 calls
Call wall$310largest call OI
Put wall$270largest put OI
IV3049.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$5Kper 1% move

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$260+6.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$220-10.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$270+10.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$360+47.0%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot270140212284356428500$5M$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 — 270 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2701401752202903604407979
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GPI 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

spot27014017522029036044011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot14021228435642850086%44%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 47.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot140175220290360440+$26K−$26K
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
0.88-0.081850.00310.23-0.08-0.12
0.86-0.081900.00340.25-0.08-0.14
0.84-0.091950.00380.28-0.09-0.15
0.82-0.092000.00420.30-0.09-0.17
0.77-0.102100.00510.35-0.10-0.22
0.71-0.122200.00590.39-0.12-0.28
0.65-0.122300.00660.43-0.12-0.35
0.58-0.132400.00700.46-0.13-0.42
0.51-0.132500.00720.46-0.13-0.49
0.44-0.132600.00710.46-0.13-0.56
0.37-0.122700.00680.44-0.13-0.62
0.32-0.122800.00640.42-0.12-0.68
0.27-0.112900.00590.38-0.11-0.73
0.22-0.103000.00530.35-0.10-0.78
0.19-0.093100.00470.32-0.09-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 41 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1702703404104906002820
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

spot120170240340440540282282
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 1K 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: GPI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk