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

IE max pain

Spot (delayed)$7.86
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$5-36.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.52±95.7% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.0447 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$2.5largest put OI
IV3074.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$2Kper 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

spot53610131720$1M$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot52.57.512.517.5460460
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IE open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot52.57.512.517.544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot3610131720102%69%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 92.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 52.57.512.517.5+$1K−$1K
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.930.002.50.00960.01-0.00-0.06
0.84-0.0050.02070.03-0.00-0.14
0.76-0.007.50.02950.04-0.00-0.24
0.68-0.00100.03500.04-0.00-0.33
0.61-0.0012.50.03820.04-0.00-0.41
0.55-0.00150.03970.04-0.00-0.49
0.50-0.0017.50.04020.05-0.00-0.56
0.46-0.00200.04010.05-0.00-0.62

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

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