Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 3:29 PM ET

WGS max pain

Spot (delayed)$62.65
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$65+3.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$26.25±41.9% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.792K puts / 2K calls
Call wall$65largest call OI
Put wall$70largest put OI
IV30148.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$10Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $30

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$69+10.1%4d
Fri, Nov 6$82+30.9%11d
Fri, Nov 13$70+11.7%18d
Fri, Nov 20$85+35.7%25d
Fri, Nov 27$79+26.1%32d
Fri, Dec 18$65+3.8%53d
Fri, Jan 15$65+3.8%81d
Fri, Mar 19$70+11.7%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot652064108152196240$31M$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 — 65 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot652042.56587.5120165434434
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WGS 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

spot652042.56587.512016555
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2064108152196240170%107%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 113.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 302042.56587.5120165+$19K−$19K
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
0.81-0.06450.00780.08-0.06-0.19
0.78-0.0647.50.00860.09-0.06-0.21
0.75-0.06500.00920.09-0.07-0.24
0.72-0.0752.50.00980.10-0.07-0.27
0.69-0.07550.01030.10-0.07-0.30
0.67-0.0757.50.01070.11-0.07-0.33
0.64-0.08600.01110.11-0.08-0.36
0.61-0.0862.50.01130.11-0.08-0.39
0.58-0.08650.01160.12-0.08-0.42
0.55-0.0867.50.01170.12-0.08-0.44
0.53-0.08700.01180.12-0.08-0.47
0.50-0.0872.50.01180.12-0.08-0.50
0.47-0.08750.01170.12-0.08-0.52
0.45-0.0877.50.01160.12-0.08-0.55
0.43-0.08800.01150.12-0.08-0.57

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 53 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot50667685971105230
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

spot20456275951403K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 10K 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: WGS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk