Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 29, 3:06 AM ET

VOYG max pain

Spot (delayed)$26.95
Max pain · Fri, Jan 21$20-25.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$19.2±71.2% by Fri, Jan 21
Put/Call OI0.122K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$20largest put OI
IV3090.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$134Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $10

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.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$30+11.3%22d
Fri, Dec 18$31+15.0%50d
Fri, Jan 15$30+11.3%78d
Fri, Apr 16$32+18.7%169d
Fri, Jan 21$20-25.8%449d
Fri, Dec 15$60+122.6%778d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2031630435770$27M$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 — 20 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot202.512.522.53242554K4K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VOYG 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

spot202.512.522.532425533
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spot31630435770125%72%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 84.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 21

spotflip 102.512.522.5324255+$40K−$40K
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
0.94-0.00100.00420.04-0.00-0.07
0.91-0.0012.50.00570.05-0.01-0.09
0.88-0.00150.00730.06-0.01-0.13
0.85-0.0117.50.00880.07-0.01-0.16
0.81-0.01200.01010.08-0.01-0.20
0.78-0.0122.50.01140.09-0.01-0.23
0.74-0.01250.01240.10-0.01-0.27
0.71-0.01270.01320.10-0.01-0.30
0.67-0.01300.01410.11-0.01-0.35
0.65-0.01320.01460.11-0.01-0.38
0.61-0.01350.01520.12-0.01-0.42
0.58-0.01370.01550.12-0.01-0.45
0.55-0.01400.01580.12-0.01-0.48
0.53-0.01420.01600.12-0.01-0.51
0.50-0.01450.01600.12-0.01-0.55

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 24 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.517243138474K0
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

spot2.517.52432404812K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 42K call contracts, 14K 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: VOYG workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk