Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 7:48 AM ET

NBBK max pain

Spot (delayed)$22.63
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$17.5-22.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.48±10.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.0889 puts / 1K calls
Call wall$20largest call OI
Put wall$22.5largest put OI
IV3026.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$30Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17.5

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$25+10.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-22.7%51d
Fri, Jan 15$17.5-22.7%79d
Fri, Feb 19$20-11.6%114d
Fri, May 21$30+32.6%205d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.5151923273135$2M$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot17.515202535801801
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NBBK 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

spot17.51520253511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot151923273135102%22%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 29.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 17.515202535+$27K−$27K
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
0.90-0.01150.02020.02-0.01-0.10
0.86-0.0117.50.03520.02-0.01-0.14
0.77-0.01200.06650.03-0.01-0.23
0.56-0.0122.50.12180.04-0.01-0.45
0.30-0.01250.09970.04-0.01-0.72
0.13-0.01300.04220.02-0.01-0.89
0.08-0.01350.02360.02-0.01-0.95

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

spot12.517.522.5309140
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

spot51015202535921921
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 1K call contracts, 985 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: NBBK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk