Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:20 AM ET

IRDM max pain

Spot (delayed)$44.44
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$45+1.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.85±10.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.562K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$45largest put OI
IV3038.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$12Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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$45+1.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$45+1.3%54d
Fri, Jan 15$45+1.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$35-21.2%173d
Fri, Dec 17$45+1.3%418d
Fri, Jan 21$45+1.3%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot45233446576980$11M$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 — 45 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4522.5355065801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)IRDM 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

spot4522.5355065801313
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot23344657698092%23%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 28.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 6022.535506580+$66K−$66K
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
1.000.0022.50.00010.000.00-0.00
1.000.00250.00040.000.00-0.00
0.98-0.00300.00420.01-0.00-0.02
0.92-0.01350.01840.03-0.01-0.08
0.75-0.01400.03970.07-0.01-0.25
0.51-0.02450.04990.08-0.02-0.49
0.29-0.02500.04270.07-0.02-0.71
0.14-0.01550.02790.05-0.01-0.86
0.06-0.01600.01530.03-0.01-0.95
0.03-0.00650.00740.01-0.00-0.99
0.01-0.00700.00340.01—-1.00
0.00-0.00750.00140.00—-1.00
0.000.00800.00060.00—-1.00

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

spot22.5355065801K0
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

spot22.5355065802K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K call contracts, 4K 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: IRDM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk