Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Sep 29, 12:19 AM ET

SMHX max pain

Spot (delayed)$60.04
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$35-41.7% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$9.6±16.0% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.033 puts / 104 calls
Call wall$64largest call OI
Put wall$60largest put OI
IV3035.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$9Kper 1% move

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$50-16.7%26d
Fri, Jan 15$35-41.7%82d
Fri, Apr 16$51-15.1%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot35354250576572$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 — 35 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot353549555863702020
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SMHX 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

spot3535495558637011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot35425057657263%36%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 36.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot354955586370+$2K−$2K
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
0.83-0.01490.01620.08-0.02-0.17
0.82-0.02500.01770.09-0.02-0.18
0.80-0.02510.01920.09-0.02-0.20
0.71-0.02550.02600.11-0.02-0.29
0.69-0.02560.02770.12-0.02-0.31
0.66-0.02570.02930.12-0.02-0.34
0.63-0.02580.03070.12-0.02-0.38
0.57-0.02600.03270.13-0.02-0.44
0.50-0.02620.03350.13-0.02-0.51
0.47-0.02630.03340.13-0.02-0.54
0.44-0.02640.03300.13-0.02-0.57
0.35-0.02670.03040.12-0.02-0.66
0.29-0.02700.02680.11-0.02-0.73
0.25-0.02720.02440.10-0.02-0.77

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 17 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot3550566064260
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

spot3552586470902626
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 137 call contracts, 6 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: SMHX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk