HowThe settle strike with the smallest total payout to option holders for the 2028-01-21 expiration, over 34 strikes carrying 7,345 open contracts. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourcePut open interest divided by call open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
How1,464 put contracts / 5,881 call contracts = 0.25 for the 2028-01-21 expiration. Open interest is published once a day, before the open, so it describes the previous session.
SourceNet gamma exposure from Cboe greeks and open interest
As ofCboe delayed snapshot Nov 4, 6:01 AM ET
HowOver every strike with open interest for the 2028-01-21 expiration: (call gamma × call OI minus put gamma × put OI) × 100 × spot² × 1%, summed. Calls count as positive and puts as negative, a convention about who holds the other side, not a measurement.
Event risk before this expiration: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.
■ 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 — 110 — is the max pain price.
Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)TD 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
Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 22.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.
Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21
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 Δ
Call Θ
Strike
Γ
Vega
Put Θ
Put Δ
0.87
-0.01
95
0.0055
0.29
-0.01
-0.14
0.86
-0.01
97.5
0.0061
0.31
-0.01
-0.15
0.84
-0.01
100
0.0066
0.32
-0.01
-0.17
0.81
-0.01
105
0.0079
0.37
-0.01
-0.20
0.77
-0.01
110
0.0092
0.41
-0.01
-0.25
0.72
-0.01
115
0.0106
0.46
-0.01
-0.30
0.66
-0.01
120
0.0118
0.49
-0.01
-0.36
0.60
-0.01
125
0.0128
0.51
-0.01
-0.43
0.54
-0.01
130
0.0135
0.53
-0.01
-0.50
0.47
-0.01
135
0.0138
0.53
-0.01
-0.57
0.41
-0.01
140
0.0137
0.52
-0.01
-0.65
0.35
-0.01
145
0.0132
0.49
-0.01
-0.72
0.30
-0.01
150
0.0124
0.46
-0.01
-0.79
0.25
-0.01
155
0.0114
0.43
-0.01
-0.86
0.21
-0.01
160
0.0102
0.39
-0.01
-0.93
Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 34 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.
Stacked — layer the expirations
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.
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.
Max pain, walls and gamma print only when an expiration holds at least 100 open contracts across 5 strikes, and max pain also needs to stay within 5% of spot when its single heaviest strike is removed. Below that the expiration reads as thin rather than printing a level one trade could move.
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.