Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 2:22 AM ET

QTEC max pain

Spot (delayed)$300.42
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$305+1.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$34.7±11.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.2614 puts / 54 calls
Call wall$320largest call OI
Put wall$320largest put OI
IV3032.9%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$34Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $240

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$270-10.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$305+1.5%53d
Fri, Jan 15$305+1.5%81d
Fri, Apr 16$300-0.1%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot305165228291354417480$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 — 305 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot3051652052753154552323
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)QTEC 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

spot30516520527531545511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot16522829135441748080%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 240165205275315455+$13K−$13K
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
0.97-0.031750.00070.09-0.03-0.03
0.96-0.041900.00100.12-0.04-0.04
0.95-0.052050.00140.15-0.05-0.05
0.93-0.052150.00170.18-0.05-0.06
0.89-0.072400.00300.28-0.07-0.11
0.82-0.082600.00470.38-0.09-0.18
0.75-0.092750.00640.46-0.10-0.25
0.56-0.103000.00940.57-0.10-0.45
0.51-0.103050.00970.57-0.10-0.50
0.46-0.093100.00990.57-0.10-0.55
0.41-0.093150.00980.56-0.10-0.60
0.36-0.093200.00960.54-0.09-0.66
0.32-0.083250.00920.52-0.09-0.70
0.03-0.024350.00130.10—-1.00
0.02-0.024550.00100.08—-1.00

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 19 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot215275305320350475230
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

spot1552152753353954552424
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 70 call contracts, 19 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: QTEC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk