Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 11:22 PM ET

PRME max pain

Spot (delayed)$3.79
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$3-20.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$1.4±36.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.294K puts / 12K calls
Call wall$5largest call OI
Put wall$3largest put OI
IV30101.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$21Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $2

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$4+5.4%30d
Fri, Dec 18$3.5-7.8%58d
Fri, Jan 15$3-20.9%86d
Fri, Apr 16$4+5.4%177d
Fri, Jan 21$3-20.9%457d
Fri, Jan 19$1-73.6%821d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot313581012$8M$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 — 3 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3134.56105K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)PRME 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

spot3134.5610250250
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13581012168%88%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 98.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 2134.5610+$14K−$14K
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
0.970.0010.01860.00-0.00-0.03
0.90-0.0020.06740.00-0.00-0.09
0.76-0.0030.14940.01-0.00-0.23
0.56-0.0040.20920.01-0.00-0.44
0.46-0.004.50.21360.01-0.00-0.54
0.38-0.0050.20450.01-0.00-0.62
0.26-0.0060.16920.01-0.00-0.75
0.18-0.0070.13320.01-0.00-0.83
0.08-0.00100.06640.00—-0.94
0.05-0.00120.04470.00—-0.98

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

spot13456109K0
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

spot0.523.55713K13K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 32K call contracts, 9K 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: PRME workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk