Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 3:06 AM ET

STNG max pain

Spot (delayed)$85.92
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$67.5-21.4% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$13.25±15.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.607K puts / 11K calls
Call wall$85largest call OI
Put wall$42.5largest put OI
IV3043.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$1.2Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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$90+4.7%27d
Fri, Dec 18$82.5-4.0%55d
Fri, Jan 15$67.5-21.4%83d
Fri, Apr 16$65-24.3%174d
Fri, May 21$65-24.3%209d
Thu, Jun 17$85-1.1%236d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot67.525466788109130$43M$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 — 67.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot67.52542.557.572.587.51053K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)STNG 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

spot67.52542.557.572.587.5105152152
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot30507090110130112%37%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 40.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 302542.557.572.587.5105+$530K−$530K
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
0.88-0.0267.50.01040.08-0.02-0.12
0.85-0.03700.01240.09-0.03-0.14
0.82-0.0372.50.01450.11-0.03-0.18
0.78-0.03750.01680.12-0.03-0.22
0.73-0.0377.50.01900.14-0.03-0.27
0.68-0.04800.02090.15-0.04-0.32
0.62-0.0482.50.02230.15-0.04-0.38
0.56-0.04850.02320.16-0.04-0.44
0.51-0.0487.50.02360.16-0.04-0.50
0.45-0.04900.02330.16-0.04-0.56
0.40-0.0492.50.02260.16-0.04-0.61
0.35-0.04950.02150.15-0.04-0.66
0.30-0.0497.50.02020.14-0.04-0.70
0.27-0.031000.01870.13-0.04-0.75
0.20-0.031050.01560.12-0.03-0.81

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 36 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2542.557.572.587.51054K0
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

spot17.53552.57087.51104K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 16K call contracts, 16K 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: STNG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk