Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 12:38 AM ET

NTSK max pain

Spot (delayed)$24.3
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$10-58.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7.15±29.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.111K puts / 11K calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$12.5largest put OI
IV3069.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$208Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $5

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$17.5-28.0%26d
Fri, Dec 18$12.5-48.6%54d
Fri, Jan 15$10-58.8%82d
Fri, Apr 16$12.5-48.6%173d
Thu, Jun 17$16-34.2%235d
Fri, Sep 17$15-38.3%327d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot103916222935$13M$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 — 10 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot102.512.517.522.5273K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)NTSK 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

spot102.512.517.522.5272K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3916222935207%73%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 52.512.517.522.527+$69K−$69K
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
0.91-0.01150.01530.02-0.01-0.08
0.89-0.01160.01870.02-0.01-0.11
0.85-0.0117.50.02410.03-0.01-0.15
0.80-0.02190.02960.03-0.02-0.20
0.76-0.02200.03300.04-0.02-0.24
0.72-0.02210.03610.04-0.02-0.28
0.66-0.0222.50.03980.04-0.02-0.34
0.59-0.02240.04240.04-0.02-0.41
0.55-0.02250.04330.05-0.02-0.45
0.51-0.02260.04380.05-0.02-0.49
0.47-0.02270.04370.05-0.02-0.53
0.35-0.02300.04120.04-0.02-0.64
0.29-0.02320.03800.04-0.02-0.71
0.21-0.01350.03240.03-0.02-0.79

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 20 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.512.51924283519K0
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

spot181420263221K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 63K call contracts, 14K 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: NTSK workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk