Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 1:46 AM ET

OBE max pain

Spot (delayed)$12
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$10-16.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$7±58.3% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.2265 puts / 296 calls
Call wall$12.5largest call OI
Put wall$10largest put OI
IV3070.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $12.5

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$10-16.7%24d
Fri, Dec 18$7.5-37.5%52d
Fri, Jan 15$10-16.7%80d
Fri, Apr 16$10-16.7%171d
Fri, Jan 21$10-16.7%451d
Fri, Jan 19$12.5+4.2%815d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot10101316192225$1M$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 21

spot10101520259797
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OBE open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot10101520251414
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot10131619222569%63%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 67.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 12.510152025+$570−$570
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.75-0.00100.03420.04-0.00-0.25
0.65-0.0012.50.04080.05-0.00-0.36
0.55-0.00150.04380.05-0.00-0.46
0.47-0.0017.50.04420.05-0.00-0.56
0.40-0.00200.04280.05-0.00-0.64
0.34-0.0022.50.04060.05-0.00-0.71
0.30-0.00250.03800.05-0.00-0.77

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.520K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.524K24K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 78K call contracts, 4K 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: OBE workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk