Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 2:44 AM ET

SKYY max pain

Spot (delayed)$167.36
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$130-22.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$21.4±12.8% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.68122 puts / 179 calls
Call wall$145largest call OI
Put wall$105largest put OI
IV3034.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$37Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $145

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$160-4.4%26d
Fri, Dec 18$177+5.8%54d
Fri, Jan 15$130-22.3%82d
Fri, Apr 16$159-5.0%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot13070103136169202235$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 — 130 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot130701161251351702154040
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SKYY 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

spot1307011612513517021522
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot70103136169202235105%32%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 33.5% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 14570115125133160190+$9K−$9K
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
0.89-0.041330.00530.15-0.04-0.11
0.88-0.041350.00580.16-0.04-0.12
0.85-0.041400.00700.19-0.04-0.15
0.81-0.051450.00850.21-0.05-0.19
0.77-0.051500.01010.24-0.05-0.23
0.71-0.061550.01170.27-0.06-0.29
0.65-0.061600.01320.30-0.06-0.35
0.58-0.061650.01440.31-0.06-0.42
0.51-0.061700.01490.32-0.06-0.49
0.43-0.061750.01490.32-0.06-0.57
0.36-0.061800.01420.30-0.06-0.64
0.30-0.061850.01310.28-0.06-0.70
0.25-0.051900.01180.26-0.05-0.76
0.21-0.051950.01040.23-0.05-0.80
0.17-0.042000.00910.21-0.04-0.84

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot105125150166177200400
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

spot70120134161175215171171
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 455 call contracts, 194 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: SKYY workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk