Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:15 PM ET

ZS max pain

Spot (delayed)$260.15
Max pain · Fri, Jan 15$180-30.8% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$63.07±24.2% by Fri, Jan 15
Put/Call OI0.9526K puts / 27K calls
Call wall$320largest call OI
Put wall$120largest put OI
IV3064.1%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$4.1Mper 1% move · flip ≈ $230

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$220-15.4%3d
Fri, Nov 6$232.5-10.6%10d
Fri, Nov 13$225-13.5%17d
Fri, Nov 20$190-27.0%24d
Fri, Nov 27$225-13.5%31d
Fri, Dec 4$245-5.8%38d
Fri, Dec 18$180-30.8%52d
Fri, Jan 15$180-30.8%80d
Fri, Feb 19$120-53.9%115d
Fri, Mar 19$180-30.8%143d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot18060144228312396480$625M$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 — 180 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot180601101602203204203K3K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ZS 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

spot18060110160220320420241241
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spot60144228312396480157%64%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 65.1% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Jan 15

spotflip 23080125170230320410+$860K−$860K
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
0.86-0.101950.00260.27-0.11-0.14
0.85-0.112000.00290.29-0.12-0.15
0.81-0.132100.00340.33-0.14-0.19
0.77-0.152200.00380.37-0.15-0.23
0.72-0.162300.00420.41-0.17-0.28
0.67-0.172400.00450.44-0.18-0.33
0.63-0.182500.00480.46-0.19-0.38
0.58-0.192600.00490.48-0.19-0.43
0.53-0.192700.00500.48-0.20-0.48
0.48-0.192800.00500.48-0.20-0.53
0.43-0.192900.00500.48-0.19-0.57
0.39-0.193000.00480.47-0.19-0.62
0.35-0.183100.00470.45-0.18-0.66
0.31-0.173200.00450.43-0.17-0.70
0.28-0.163300.00420.41-0.17-0.73

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 57 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot140177.5202.5227.5252.5277.51K0
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

spot601201802202703808K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 116K call contracts, 97K 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: ZS workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk