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

SJM max pain

Spot (delayed)$129.98
Max pain · Fri, Apr 16$135+3.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.95±15.3% by Fri, Apr 16
Put/Call OI8.335K puts / 572 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$135largest put OI
IV3026.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$1.2Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $125

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

spot1356590115140165190$31M$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 — 135 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot13565851051251451652K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SJM open contracts per strike for Fri, Apr 16.

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, Apr 16

spot135658510512514516566
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spot659011514016519054%27%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 27.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Apr 16

spotflip 1256585105125145165+$642K−$642K
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, Apr 16

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.94-0.01950.00440.11-0.01-0.07
0.91-0.011000.00590.15-0.01-0.10
0.88-0.011050.00770.19-0.02-0.13
0.83-0.021100.00970.23-0.02-0.18
0.77-0.021150.01180.27-0.02-0.23
0.71-0.021200.01370.31-0.03-0.30
0.63-0.031250.01520.33-0.03-0.38
0.56-0.031300.01610.35-0.03-0.46
0.48-0.031350.01620.35-0.03-0.54
0.40-0.031400.01580.34-0.03-0.62
0.34-0.031450.01470.32-0.03-0.69
0.28-0.021500.01340.30-0.03-0.75
0.23-0.021550.01190.27-0.02-0.81
0.18-0.021600.01040.24-0.02-0.85
0.15-0.021650.00900.21-0.02-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. 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