Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 21, 12:46 AM ET

SOLV max pain

Spot (delayed)$86.39
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$80-7.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$10.9±12.6% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.07241 puts / 3K calls
Call wall$110largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3036.6%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$360Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $75

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$85-1.6%30d
Fri, Dec 18$85-1.6%58d
Fri, Jan 15$80-7.4%86d
Fri, Apr 16$75-13.2%177d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot8060728496108120$6M$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 — 80 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot806075901051202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)SOLV 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

spot806075901051201010
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot6072849610812058%29%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 32.4% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 75607590105120+$188K−$188K
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
0.96-0.00600.00400.03-0.01-0.03
0.94-0.01650.00670.05-0.01-0.06
0.90-0.01700.01100.07-0.02-0.10
0.83-0.02750.01700.11-0.02-0.17
0.72-0.03800.02360.14-0.03-0.28
0.59-0.03850.02860.16-0.03-0.41
0.44-0.03900.02960.17-0.03-0.56
0.31-0.03950.02660.15-0.03-0.70
0.21-0.021000.02130.12-0.02-0.81
0.13-0.021050.01580.09-0.01-0.89
0.08-0.011100.01110.07-0.01-0.95
0.05-0.011150.00760.05-0.01-0.99
0.03-0.011200.00510.03-0.01-1.00

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

spot6075901051202K0
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

spot4060801001202K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 8K call contracts, 2K 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: SOLV workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk