Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 25, 3:13 AM ET

VXUS max pain

Spot (delayed)$82.82
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$85+2.6% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.05±7.3% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.431K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$90largest call OI
Put wall$85largest put OI
IV3017.0%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$293Kper 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, Oct 30$85+2.6%5d
Fri, Nov 20$85+2.6%26d
Fri, Dec 18$83+0.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$85+2.6%82d
Fri, Apr 16$78-5.8%173d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot855564738291100$3M$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 — 85 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot855575808590100428428
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)VXUS 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

spot85557580859010099
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot556473829110040%14%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 18.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 755575808590100+$112K−$112K
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
0.85-0.01760.03100.09-0.01-0.21
0.82-0.01770.03570.10-0.01-0.24
0.79-0.01780.04100.11-0.02-0.28
0.76-0.02790.04650.12-0.02-0.32
0.71-0.02800.05220.13-0.02-0.36
0.66-0.02810.05770.14-0.02-0.42
0.60-0.02820.06240.14-0.02-0.48
0.54-0.02830.06570.15-0.02-0.54
0.47-0.02840.06720.15-0.01-0.60
0.41-0.02850.06640.15-0.01-0.66
0.34-0.01860.06340.14-0.01-0.72
0.28-0.01870.05840.13-0.01-0.78
0.23-0.01880.05220.12-0.01-0.82
0.19-0.01890.04550.11-0.01-0.86
0.15-0.01900.03900.09-0.01-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 26 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot708084.58790944470
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

spot55778386.59093.5845845
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 6K 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: VXUS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk