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

STRF max pain

Spot (delayed)$101.2
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$100-1.2% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$5±4.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.80123 puts / 154 calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$95largest put OI
IV3017.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$22Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $100

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$100-1.2%25d
Fri, Dec 18$110+8.7%53d
Fri, Jan 15$100-1.2%81d
Fri, Apr 16$100-1.2%172d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot100607692108124140$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 — 100 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot1006085951051151406262
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)STRF 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

spot10060859510511514011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot859610711812914050%12%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 12.8% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 100608595105115140+$22K−$22K
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
0.95-0.03600.00370.04-0.02-0.06
0.89-0.03800.01050.09-0.03-0.12
0.85-0.03850.01440.11-0.03-0.16
0.80-0.03900.02040.13-0.03-0.21
0.71-0.03950.02990.16-0.03-0.30
0.54-0.031000.04060.19-0.02-0.46
0.35-0.021050.03700.18-0.02-0.64
0.23-0.021100.02620.15-0.02-0.75
0.17-0.021150.01880.13-0.02-0.81
0.08-0.021350.00750.07-0.02-0.90
0.07-0.021400.00640.07-0.02-0.91

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

spot95100105110140680
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

spot5575951151359494
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 179 call contracts, 248 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: STRF workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk