Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:17 PM ET

GRPN max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.19
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$20+23.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.73±29.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.6023K puts / 39K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$1largest put OI
IV3092.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$112Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$18+11.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$19+17.4%53d
Fri, Jan 15$20+23.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$18+11.2%172d
Fri, Dec 17$15-7.4%417d
Fri, Jan 21$13-19.7%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2011325364860$89M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot201111927354711K11K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)GRPN 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

spot201111927354711
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot11325364860299%77%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2011119273547+$101K−$101K
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
0.94-0.0090.01620.01-0.01-0.06
0.92-0.01100.02260.01-0.01-0.08
0.88-0.01110.03040.01-0.01-0.12
0.84-0.01120.03910.02-0.01-0.16
0.79-0.01130.04790.02-0.01-0.21
0.73-0.01140.05570.03-0.01-0.27
0.66-0.01150.06160.03-0.01-0.34
0.59-0.01160.06540.03-0.01-0.41
0.53-0.01170.06690.03-0.01-0.47
0.47-0.01180.06660.03-0.01-0.54
0.41-0.01190.06480.03-0.01-0.59
0.36-0.01200.06190.03-0.01-0.64
0.32-0.01210.05840.03-0.01-0.69
0.28-0.01220.05440.03-0.01-0.73
0.24-0.01230.05030.02-0.01-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 44 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot1122028364713K0
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

spot1111927354514K14K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 98K call contracts, 33K 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: GRPN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk