Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 24, 3:33 AM ET

WRAP max pain

Spot (delayed)$1.2
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$2+66.5% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$0.53±43.7% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.02261 puts / 15K calls
Call wall$2largest call OI
Put wall$2largest put OI
IV30131.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$8Kper 1% move

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, Nov 20$1.5+24.9%27d
Fri, Dec 18$1-16.7%55d
Fri, Jan 15$2+66.5%83d
Fri, Apr 16$1-16.7%174d
Fri, Dec 17$1.5+24.9%419d
Fri, Jan 21$1-16.7%454d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2112345$4M$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 — 2 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot20.51.5359K9K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)WRAP 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

spot20.51.53544
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot112345272%105%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 204.0% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot0.51.535+$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
0.94-0.000.50.12240.00-0.00-0.07
0.76-0.0010.37280.00-0.00-0.26
0.54-0.001.50.48480.00-0.00-0.48
0.39-0.0020.43780.00-0.00-0.63
0.25-0.0030.32280.00-0.00-0.77
0.19-0.0040.25290.00-0.00-0.83
0.16-0.0050.20910.00-0.00-0.88

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

spot0.51.53512K0
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

spot0.51.53512K12K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 24K call contracts, 1K 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: WRAP workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk