Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:12 AM ET

PI max pain

Spot (delayed)$167.07
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$150-10.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$43.6±26.1% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.90164 puts / 182 calls
Call wall$220largest call OI
Put wall$145largest put OI
IV3087.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $95

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$180+7.7%25d
Fri, Dec 18$135-19.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$150-10.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$175+4.7%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot15065108151194237280$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 — 150 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot15065951251551852402222
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PI 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

spot150659512515518524011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot65108151194237280125%67%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 68.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 9565100130160190260+$4K−$4K
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
0.82-0.091300.00440.21-0.09-0.18
0.79-0.101350.00490.23-0.10-0.21
0.76-0.111400.00540.25-0.11-0.24
0.73-0.111450.00580.27-0.11-0.27
0.70-0.121500.00620.28-0.12-0.30
0.66-0.121550.00650.29-0.12-0.34
0.63-0.131600.00680.30-0.13-0.38
0.59-0.131650.00700.31-0.13-0.41
0.56-0.131700.00720.32-0.13-0.45
0.52-0.131750.00730.32-0.13-0.48
0.49-0.131800.00730.32-0.13-0.52
0.45-0.131850.00730.32-0.13-0.55
0.42-0.131900.00720.31-0.13-0.59
0.36-0.122000.00690.30-0.12-0.65
0.31-0.112100.00640.28-0.12-0.70

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot47.5901201602002805520
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

spot47.590125170230320556556
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 2K call contracts, 1K 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: PI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk