Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 4:22 AM ET

MBC max pain

Spot (delayed)$6.91
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$7.5+8.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.67±24.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.104 puts / 41 calls
Call wall$10largest call OI
Put wall$7.5largest put OI
IV3074.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$187per 1% move · flip ≈ $7.5

Event risk before this expiration: 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$7.5+8.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$2.5-63.8%51d
Fri, Jan 15$7.5+8.5%79d
Fri, Apr 16$7.5+8.5%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7.5578101113$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 — 7.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot7.557.51012.53636
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MBC 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

spot7.557.51012.511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 7.557.51012.5+$202−$202
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
0.92-0.0050.08340.01-0.00-0.11
0.49-0.017.50.21980.01-0.01-0.56
0.26-0.01100.12110.01-0.01-0.80
0.18-0.0112.50.08000.01-0.01-0.87

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

spot2.557.51012.5970
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

spot2.57.512.517.5157157
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 310 call contracts, 34 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: MBC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk