Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Aug 17, 11:29 PM ET

JANX max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.26
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$15-7.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5.75±35.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.76206 puts / 270 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV3048.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$558per 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

Event risk before this expiration: Jobs report Fri, Sep 4 · CPI release Fri, Sep 11 · FOMC decision Wed, Sep 16 · Jobs report Fri, Oct 2 · CPI release Wed, Oct 14 · 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, Aug 21$15-7.7%3d
Fri, Sep 18$17.5+7.6%31d
Fri, Nov 20$15-7.7%94d
Fri, Dec 18$15-7.7%122d
Fri, Jan 15$15-7.7%150d
Fri, Feb 19$15-7.7%185d
Fri, Jan 21$12.5-23.1%521d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1581217212630$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot157.512.517.522.530104104
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)JANX 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

spot157.512.517.522.53011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot81217212630158%59%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 12.57.512.517.522.530+$465$465
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
0.91-0.017.50.01170.02-0.01-0.09
0.86-0.01100.02080.02-0.01-0.14
0.78-0.0112.50.03430.03-0.01-0.22
0.66-0.01150.04920.04-0.01-0.33
0.53-0.0117.50.05450.04-0.01-0.47
0.43-0.01200.05060.04-0.01-0.57
0.36-0.0122.50.04490.04-0.01-0.65
0.30-0.01250.03960.04-0.01-0.70
0.24-0.01300.03170.03-0.01-0.77

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

spot12.517.522.5301K0
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

spot2.51017.525402K2K
■ 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: JANX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk