Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:02 PM ET

MXL max pain

Spot (delayed)$63.75
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$90+41.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.75±35.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.704K puts / 6K calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$90largest put OI
IV3097.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $160

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$75+17.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$75+17.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$90+41.2%82d
Fri, Mar 19$75+17.6%145d
Thu, Jun 17$80+25.5%235d
Fri, Jan 21$90+41.2%453d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot90306192123154185$46M$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 — 90 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot903060901201501801K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)MXL 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

spot903060901201501804343
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot306192123154185106%87%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 93.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 160306090120150180+$43K−$43K
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
0.96-0.01300.00260.03-0.01-0.04
0.93-0.02350.00430.04-0.02-0.07
0.89-0.03400.00620.06-0.03-0.11
0.84-0.04450.00820.07-0.04-0.16
0.78-0.05500.01020.09-0.05-0.22
0.71-0.06550.01180.10-0.06-0.29
0.65-0.06600.01300.11-0.06-0.36
0.58-0.07650.01380.12-0.07-0.43
0.51-0.07700.01410.12-0.07-0.49
0.45-0.07750.01410.12-0.07-0.56
0.39-0.06800.01370.12-0.07-0.61
0.34-0.06850.01300.11-0.06-0.67
0.29-0.06900.01230.10-0.06-0.72
0.25-0.05950.01140.10-0.06-0.76
0.22-0.051000.01050.09-0.05-0.80

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 32 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot143050851201554K0
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

spot142536471001555K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 30K 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: MXL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk