Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 6:32 AM ET

WABC max pain

Spot (delayed)$61.55
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$60-2.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.08±9.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.4514 puts / 31 calls
Call wall$60largest call OI
Put wall$30largest put OI
IV3026.8%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$5Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $60

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$60-2.5%23d
Fri, Dec 18$55-10.6%51d
Fri, Jan 15$60-2.5%79d
Fri, Apr 16$60-2.5%170d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot60303744515865$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 — 60 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot60305560652828
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WABC 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

spot603055606511
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 6030556065+$5K−$5K
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
0.97-0.02300.00420.01-0.02-0.04
0.76-0.02550.02960.09-0.02-0.24
0.59-0.02600.04940.11-0.02-0.41
0.34-0.02650.04790.10-0.02-0.66

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

spot50556065300
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

spot30456075904747
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 42 call contracts, 111 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: WABC workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk