Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:03 AM ET

SCI max pain

Spot (delayed)$82.36
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$75-8.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.85±8.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.26503 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$75largest put OI
IV3028.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$375Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $80

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$80-2.9%24d
Fri, Dec 18$80-2.9%52d
Fri, Jan 15$75-8.9%80d
Fri, Mar 19$70-15.0%143d
Thu, Jun 17$72.5-12.0%233d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot7540577491108125$7M$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 — 75 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot75406072.585100125787787
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SCI 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

spot75406072.58510012511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot4561779310912576%20%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 21.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 80406072.585100125+$183K−$183K
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
0.92-0.01650.00990.06-0.02-0.09
0.90-0.0167.50.01240.07-0.02-0.11
0.88-0.02700.01560.08-0.02-0.13
0.84-0.0272.50.01980.10-0.02-0.17
0.80-0.02750.02520.11-0.02-0.21
0.74-0.0277.50.03190.13-0.02-0.27
0.66-0.02800.03900.14-0.02-0.36
0.56-0.0282.50.04420.15-0.02-0.46
0.45-0.02850.04460.15-0.02-0.58
0.35-0.0287.50.04040.14-0.02-0.68
0.28-0.02900.03440.13-0.02-0.75
0.22-0.0292.50.02870.12-0.02-0.81
0.18-0.02950.02400.10-0.02-0.85
0.13-0.021000.01710.08-0.02-0.91
0.10-0.011050.01270.07-0.02-0.95

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot4572.582.592.51102K0
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

spot40557082.5951202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K 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: SCI workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk