Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 10:01 AM ET

ZM max pain

Spot (delayed)$95.7
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$92.5-3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$15.65±16.4% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.5631K puts / 54K calls
Call wall$100largest call OI
Put wall$80largest put OI
IV3047.2%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$3.6Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $42.5

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$95-0.7%4d
Fri, Nov 6$94-1.8%11d
Fri, Nov 13$96+0.3%18d
Fri, Nov 20$95-0.7%25d
Fri, Nov 27$95-0.7%32d
Fri, Dec 4$105+9.7%39d
Fri, Dec 18$85-11.2%53d
Fri, Jan 15$92.5-3.3%81d
Fri, Feb 19$95-0.7%116d
Fri, Mar 19$100+4.5%144d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot92.5335986112139165$270M$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 — 92.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot92.532.5507087.511014510K10K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZM 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

spot92.532.5507087.5110145440440
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot335986112139165141%41%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 42.7% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 42.537.557.57592.5120155+$1.3M−$1.3M
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
0.87-0.0377.50.01010.10-0.03-0.13
0.84-0.03800.01170.11-0.03-0.17
0.80-0.0482.50.01340.13-0.04-0.20
0.76-0.04850.01490.14-0.04-0.24
0.72-0.0487.50.01640.15-0.04-0.28
0.67-0.04900.01760.17-0.04-0.33
0.63-0.0592.50.01850.17-0.05-0.38
0.58-0.05950.01920.18-0.05-0.43
0.53-0.0597.50.01960.18-0.05-0.48
0.48-0.051000.01960.18-0.05-0.53
0.39-0.051050.01890.18-0.05-0.62
0.31-0.041100.01740.16-0.04-0.71
0.24-0.041150.01530.14-0.04-0.78
0.19-0.031200.01310.12-0.04-0.84
0.14-0.031250.01080.10-0.03-0.89

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 40 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot7587941011081159640
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

spot3062.5839310411631K31K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 173K call contracts, 76K 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: ZM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk