Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:22 PM ET

PENN max pain

Spot (delayed)$14.41
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$15+4.1% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.85±61.4% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.099 puts / 99 calls
Call wall$15largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3057.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$604per 1% move · flip ≈ $15

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$15+4.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$16+11.0%53d
Fri, Jan 15$15+4.1%81d
Fri, Apr 16$16+11.0%172d
Fri, Jan 21$20+38.8%452d
Fri, Jan 19$15+4.1%816d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1581319243035$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 — 15 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot1581522304141
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PENN open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot15815223066
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot8131924303572%45%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 51.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 158152230+$227−$227
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.910.0080.01380.04-0.00-0.11
0.78-0.00130.02620.07-0.00-0.27
0.72-0.00150.03020.08-0.00-0.34
0.66-0.00170.03340.08-0.00-0.42
0.51-0.00220.03770.09-0.00-0.62
0.38-0.00270.03730.08-0.00-0.82
0.32-0.00300.03540.08-0.00-0.93
0.23-0.00350.03090.07-0.00-1.00

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

spot2.51216202537.52K0
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

spot2.59141924324K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 26K call contracts, 15K 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: PENN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk