Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 23, 11:32 PM ET

SJM max pain

Spot (delayed)$129.98
Max pain · Fri, Dec 18$120-7.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$12.3±9.5% by Fri, Dec 18
Put/Call OI0.2756 puts / 204 calls
Call wall$120largest call OI
Put wall$115largest put OI
IV3026.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$60Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $120

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$120-7.7%27d
Fri, Dec 18$120-7.7%55d
Fri, Jan 15$110-15.4%83d
Fri, Apr 16$135+3.9%174d
Fri, Jan 21$90-30.8%454d
Fri, Jan 19$95-26.9%818d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot12090105120135150165$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 — 120 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot120901101201301401503939
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SJM open contracts per strike for Fri, Dec 18.

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, Dec 18

spot120901101201301401504040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spot9010512013515016546%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 30.3% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Dec 18

spotflip 12090110120130140150+$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, Dec 18

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.99-0.01900.00130.01-0.01-0.02
0.95-0.021050.00650.05-0.02-0.07
0.92-0.031100.01030.08-0.03-0.11
0.86-0.041150.01540.12-0.04-0.16
0.77-0.051200.02080.15-0.04-0.25
0.65-0.051250.02500.19-0.05-0.36
0.52-0.061300.02670.20-0.06-0.49
0.39-0.051350.02540.20-0.05-0.62
0.29-0.051400.02190.17-0.05-0.73
0.20-0.041450.01770.14-0.04-0.81
0.14-0.031500.01370.12-0.03-0.87
0.05-0.021650.00580.06-0.01-0.96

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

spot50851101351601851K0
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

spot50751001251501752K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 11K 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: SJM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk