Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:15 PM ET

NDAQ max pain

Spot (delayed)$104.36
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$87.5-16.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.8±9.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.321K puts / 4K calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$100largest put OI
IV3026.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$596Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $50

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, Oct 30$101-3.2%3d
Fri, Nov 6$95-9.0%10d
Fri, Nov 13$100-4.2%17d
Fri, Nov 20$94-9.9%24d
Fri, Nov 27$96-8.0%31d
Fri, Dec 4$90-13.8%38d
Fri, Dec 18$87.5-16.2%52d
Fri, Jan 15$87.5-16.2%80d
Fri, Mar 19$90-13.8%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot87.5385981102124145$15M$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 — 87.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot87.537.55572.587.5105135861861
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NDAQ 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

spot87.537.55572.587.510513577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot38598110212414586%24%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 24.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 5037.55572.587.5105135+$199K−$199K
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
0.93-0.01850.00860.07-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.0187.50.01090.08-0.02-0.10
0.88-0.02900.01360.10-0.02-0.12
0.84-0.0292.50.01680.12-0.02-0.16
0.80-0.02950.02040.14-0.02-0.20
0.75-0.0397.50.02410.16-0.03-0.26
0.68-0.031000.02760.17-0.03-0.33
0.53-0.031050.03200.19-0.03-0.48
0.38-0.031100.03080.19-0.03-0.64
0.25-0.021150.02540.16-0.02-0.77
0.16-0.021200.01880.12-0.02-0.87
0.10-0.011250.01320.09-0.02-0.93
0.07-0.011300.00910.06-0.01-0.98
0.04-0.011350.00630.05-0.01-1.00
0.03-0.011400.00440.03-0.01-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 33 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot658592981041151140
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

spot37.5708392.51021254K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 18K call contracts, 13K 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: NDAQ workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk