Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 5:26 PM ET

LSCC max pain

Spot (delayed)$98.29
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$100+1.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$24.25±24.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.904K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$190largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3079.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$91Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $35

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$100+1.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$115+17.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$100+1.7%81d
Fri, Feb 19$110+11.9%116d
Fri, Mar 19$135+37.3%144d
Thu, Jun 17$100+1.7%234d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1002362102141181220$35M$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot10022.555901251601952K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)LSCC 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

spot10022.5559012516019577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2362102141181220170%61%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 65.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 3522.55590125160195+$180K−$180K
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
0.92-0.03650.00440.07-0.03-0.08
0.89-0.04700.00580.09-0.04-0.12
0.85-0.04750.00730.11-0.05-0.16
0.80-0.05800.00890.13-0.06-0.20
0.74-0.06850.01040.15-0.06-0.26
0.68-0.07900.01160.17-0.07-0.32
0.62-0.07950.01260.18-0.07-0.39
0.55-0.071000.01320.18-0.07-0.45
0.49-0.071050.01340.18-0.07-0.52
0.43-0.071100.01320.18-0.07-0.58
0.37-0.071150.01270.18-0.07-0.64
0.32-0.071200.01200.17-0.07-0.69
0.28-0.061250.01110.15-0.06-0.74
0.24-0.061300.01020.14-0.06-0.78
0.20-0.051350.00930.13-0.05-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 39 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot22.560951301652009K0
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

spot22.555901251601959K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 29K call contracts, 9K 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: LSCC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk