Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:15 AM ET

IBKR max pain

Spot (delayed)$80.65
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$46.25-42.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12±14.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.7225K puts / 35K calls
Call wall$43.75largest call OI
Put wall$50largest put OI
IV3038.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$201Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $43.75

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, Oct 30$85+5.4%5d
Fri, Nov 6$84+4.2%12d
Fri, Nov 13$82+1.7%19d
Fri, Nov 20$89+10.4%26d
Fri, Nov 27$86+6.6%33d
Fri, Dec 4$75-7.0%40d
Fri, Dec 18$90+11.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$46.25-42.7%82d
Fri, Mar 19$75-7.0%145d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot46.2518436994120145$291M$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 — 46.25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot46.2517.53042.55572.51107K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IBKR 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

spot46.2517.53042.55572.5110276276
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot18436994120145155%31%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 39.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 43.7517.53042.55572.5110+$125K−$125K
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
0.92-0.0162.50.00950.06-0.01-0.09
0.89-0.02650.01210.07-0.02-0.12
0.85-0.0267.50.01500.09-0.02-0.15
0.81-0.02700.01810.11-0.03-0.20
0.76-0.0372.50.02120.12-0.03-0.25
0.70-0.03750.02410.13-0.03-0.31
0.63-0.0377.50.02640.14-0.03-0.37
0.56-0.03800.02800.15-0.03-0.44
0.49-0.0382.50.02860.15-0.03-0.52
0.43-0.03850.02830.15-0.03-0.59
0.30-0.03900.02520.14-0.03-0.72
0.20-0.02950.02040.11-0.03-0.82
0.13-0.021000.01530.08-0.02-0.90
0.08-0.011050.01090.06-0.02-0.96
0.05-0.011100.00750.04-0.01-0.99

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 58 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot73798591971036100
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

spot17.541.2553.75708310013K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 74K call contracts, 57K 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: IBKR workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk