Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 4:09 AM ET

SM max pain

Spot (delayed)$40.15
Max pain · Fri, Jan 19$25-37.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$22.95±57.2% by Fri, Jan 19
Put/Call OI0.52251 puts / 484 calls
Call wall$25largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3053.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $20

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$35-12.8%24d
Fri, Dec 18$22.5-44.0%52d
Fri, Jan 15$27.5-31.5%80d
Fri, Feb 19$27.5-31.5%115d
Fri, May 21$35-12.8%206d
Fri, Jan 19$25-37.7%815d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot25182533404855$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 — 25 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot2517.52532.54047.5119119
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SM 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

spot2517.52532.54047.577
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spot18253340485560%49%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 53.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 19

spotflip 2017.52532.54047.5+$1K−$1K
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
0.87-0.0022.50.00630.11-0.00-0.12
0.84-0.00250.00730.13-0.00-0.15
0.82-0.0027.50.00820.15-0.00-0.18
0.79-0.00300.00910.16-0.01-0.21
0.76-0.0032.50.00990.17-0.01-0.24
0.73-0.00350.01060.18-0.01-0.27
0.70-0.0137.50.01130.19-0.01-0.30
0.67-0.01400.01180.20-0.01-0.33
0.64-0.0142.50.01220.21-0.01-0.36
0.61-0.01450.01260.21-0.01-0.39
0.59-0.0147.50.01290.22-0.01-0.42
0.56-0.01500.01300.22-0.01-0.46
0.51-0.01550.01320.22-0.01-0.51

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 13 strikes around the money — all 15 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7.517.527.537.547.54K0
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

spot515253545605K5K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 38K call contracts, 17K 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: SM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk