Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 11:36 PM ET

SLN max pain

Spot (delayed)$19.78
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$17.5-11.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.85±4.3% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.39259 puts / 662 calls
Call wall$17.5largest call OI
Put wall$17.5largest put OI
IV305.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$38Kper 1% move

Event risk before this expiration: 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$17.5-11.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$17.5-11.5%51d
Fri, Jan 15$15-24.2%79d
Fri, Apr 16$20+1.1%170d
Fri, Jan 21$17.5-11.5%450d
Fri, Jan 19$17.5-11.5%814d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot17.53712162125$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 — 17.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot17.52.512.517.525325325
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SLN open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 19.

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 19

spot17.52.512.517.5252020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot1012.51517.52025+$33K−$33K
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 19

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
1.00—2.50.00090.010.00-0.01
0.99—100.00760.020.00-0.03
0.97—12.50.03020.010.00-0.04
0.92—150.04720.030.00-0.06
0.82—17.50.09040.060.00-0.12
0.500.00200.33310.110.00-0.53
0.060.00250.04110.040.00-1.00

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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53018K0
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

spot2.57.512.517.522.53043K43K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 50K call contracts, 5K 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: SLN workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk