Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 11:34 PM ET

KPDD max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.84
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$5+3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.65±13.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI2.151K puts / 620 calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3090.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$6Kper 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$4-17.4%26d
Fri, Jan 15$5+3.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$3-38.0%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot513581012$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 15

spot51357101K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)KPDD 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

spot51357101010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 5135710+$6K−$6K
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
0.96-0.0010.01350.00-0.00-0.03
0.93-0.0020.03820.00-0.00-0.07
0.88-0.0030.08900.00-0.00-0.12
0.76-0.0040.20900.01-0.00-0.23
0.48-0.0050.32290.01-0.00-0.51
0.27-0.0060.22560.01-0.00-0.71
0.17-0.0070.15200.01-0.00-0.80
0.12-0.0080.10850.01-0.00-0.85
0.07-0.00100.06250.00-0.00-0.91
0.04-0.00120.03970.00-0.00-0.94

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

spot1357102800
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

spot1471013161K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 650 call contracts, 1K 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: KPDD workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk