Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 2:54 AM ET

OSG max pain

Spot (delayed)$4.75
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$5+5.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.53±32.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.25428 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$8largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV3070.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $3

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$5+5.3%30d
Fri, Jan 15$5+5.3%86d
Fri, Feb 19$5+5.3%121d
Fri, May 21$5+5.3%212d
Fri, Jan 21$5+5.3%457d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot5269131620$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 — 5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot52581220451451
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)OSG 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

spot5258122011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3610131720224%57%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 80.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 32581220+$1K−$1K
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
0.93-0.0020.03440.00-0.00-0.07
0.86-0.0030.07870.01-0.00-0.14
0.74-0.0040.16160.01-0.00-0.26
0.53-0.0050.23960.01-0.00-0.48
0.34-0.0060.20780.01-0.00-0.67
0.24-0.0070.15870.01-0.00-0.77
0.19-0.0080.12420.01-0.00-0.83
0.15-0.0090.10070.01-0.00-0.87
0.13-0.00100.08400.01-0.00-0.89
0.10-0.00120.06220.00-0.00-0.93
0.07-0.00150.04380.00-0.00-0.96

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 11 strikes around the money — all 13 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot14710171K0
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

spot14710151K1K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 5K call contracts, 2K 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: OSG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk