Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 11:39 PM ET

SNDX max pain

Spot (delayed)$13.66
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$13-4.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$8.8±64.4% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.54877 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$13largest call OI
Put wall$15largest put OI
IV3077.5%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $17

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$19+39.1%25d
Fri, Dec 18$13-4.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$19+39.1%81d
Fri, Apr 16$15+9.8%172d
Fri, Jan 21$13-4.8%452d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot1331018253340$3M$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 — 13 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot1331017253240493493
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SNDX open contracts per strike for Fri, Jan 21.

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 21

spot1331017253240233233
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot51219263340105%50%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 78.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 1731017253240+$3K−$3K
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 21

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.960.0030.00400.01-0.00-0.04
0.93-0.0050.00840.02-0.00-0.07
0.86-0.0080.01740.03-0.00-0.14
0.80-0.00100.02450.04-0.00-0.20
0.70-0.00130.03360.05-0.00-0.32
0.63-0.00150.03700.06-0.00-0.40
0.56-0.00170.03830.06-0.00-0.46
0.49-0.00200.03770.06-0.00-0.55
0.45-0.00220.03650.06-0.00-0.60
0.40-0.00250.03440.06-0.00-0.65
0.38-0.00270.03300.06-0.00-0.69
0.35-0.00300.03100.06-0.00-0.72

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 12 strikes around the money — all 16 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot113192531376K0
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

spot18152229366K6K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 21K call contracts, 4K 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: SNDX workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk