Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:55 AM ET

IE max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.86
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$12.5+59.0% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.2±28.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.459K puts / 20K calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3074.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$11Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$10+27.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-4.6%53d
Fri, Jan 15$12.5+59.0%81d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5+59.0%172d
Fri, Jan 21$10+27.2%452d
Fri, Jan 19$5-36.4%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12.53916222935$39M$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 — 12.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot12.52.57.512.517.522.5307K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IE 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

spot12.52.57.512.517.522.530212212
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3916222935180%68%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 74.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 52.57.512.517.522.530+$23K−$23K
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
0.99-0.002.50.00610.000.00-0.01
0.91-0.0050.05080.01-0.00-0.08
0.63-0.017.50.13260.01-0.01-0.37
0.33-0.01100.12150.01-0.01-0.67
0.17-0.0112.50.08060.01-0.01-0.83
0.09-0.00150.05010.01-0.00-0.92
0.05-0.0017.50.03130.00-0.00-0.96
0.03-0.00200.02000.00-0.00-0.99
0.02-0.0022.50.01310.000.00-1.00
0.01-0.00250.00880.00—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 10 strikes around the money — all 12 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.57.512.517.522.5308K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.5309K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 40K call contracts, 13K 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: IE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk