Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 12:35 AM ET

MOMO max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.45
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$4.74+6.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.73±16.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.814K puts / 5K calls
Call wall$4.74largest call OI
Put wall$4.74largest put OI
IV3038.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$15Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2.74

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$5+12.4%23d
Fri, Dec 18$5+12.4%51d
Fri, Jan 15$4.74+6.5%79d
Fri, Apr 16$5+12.4%170d
Fri, Jan 21$3.74-16.0%450d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot4.7414691215$4M$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 — 4.74 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4.7413.746.749.7414.743K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MOMO 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

spot4.7413.746.749.7414.741717
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot468101315131%38%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2.7413.746.749.7414.74+$16K−$16K
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
0.99-0.0010.01130.00-0.00-0.02
0.95-0.002.740.07490.00-0.00-0.07
0.85-0.003.740.24720.01-0.00-0.17
0.46-0.004.740.47570.01-0.00-0.58
0.13-0.006.740.15660.00-0.00-0.93
0.08-0.0080.09240.00-0.00-0.98
0.04-0.009.740.05080.00-0.00-1.00
0.02-0.0011.740.02840.00-0.00-1.00
0.010.0014.740.01350.00-0.00-1.00

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

spot13.744.746.749.7414.742K0
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

spot134.746.749115K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 16K call contracts, 7K 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: MOMO workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk