Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:04 AM ET

JANX max pain

Spot (delayed)$16.69
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$22.5+34.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.65±57.8% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI2.858K puts / 3K calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$25largest put OI
IV3081.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$47Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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$17.5+4.9%25d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5+4.9%53d
Fri, Jan 15$20+19.8%81d
Fri, Feb 19$22.5+34.8%116d
Fri, May 21$20+19.8%207d
Fri, Jan 21$22.5+34.8%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot22.53814192530$13M$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 — 22.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot22.52.57.512.517.522.5302K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)JANX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot22.52.57.512.517.522.530504504
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot3814192530135%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 66.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 102.57.512.517.522.530+$15K−$15K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.98—2.50.00190.01-0.00-0.02
0.96—50.00500.02-0.00-0.04
0.92-0.007.50.00990.03-0.00-0.08
0.87-0.00100.01570.04-0.00-0.14
0.80-0.0012.50.02110.05-0.00-0.21
0.73-0.00150.02520.06-0.01-0.28
0.66-0.0117.50.02790.07-0.01-0.36
0.60-0.01200.02950.07-0.01-0.43
0.54-0.0122.50.03010.07-0.01-0.49
0.49-0.01250.03010.07-0.01-0.55
0.40-0.01300.02880.07-0.01-0.65

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

spot512.51622.535508930
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

spot2.510152025453K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 7K 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: JANX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk