Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 28, 4:46 AM ET

ZNTL max pain

Spot (delayed)$2.02
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$2.5+23.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$2.13±105.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.41637 puts / 2K calls
Call wall$2.5largest call OI
Put wall$5largest put OI
IV30142.7%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$453per 1% move

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$2-1.0%23d
Fri, Dec 18$5+147.6%51d
Fri, Jan 15$2.5+23.8%79d
Fri, Apr 16$5+147.6%170d
Fri, Jul 16$2.5+23.8%261d
Fri, Dec 17$2.5+23.8%415d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot2.513581013$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 — 2.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot2.50.52510543543
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZNTL 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

spot2.50.5251011
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot13581013790%199%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 556.6% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot0.52510+$442−$442
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
0.99-0.000.50.03290.00-0.00-0.03
0.92-0.0010.11110.00-0.00-0.10
0.67-0.0020.24910.00-0.00-0.35
0.56-0.002.50.26490.00-0.00-0.47
0.27-0.0050.19830.00-0.00-0.76
0.17-0.007.50.13940.00-0.00-0.88
0.12-0.00100.10420.00-0.00-0.94
0.09-0.0012.50.08170.00-0.00-0.97

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

spot0.525105690
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

spot0.51.52.57.512.52K2K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 3K 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: ZNTL workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk