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Gold max pain today
Gold options data from GLD/IAU ETF options (proxy, 15 min delayed, US market hours). Strikes are converted to the gold price with the daily gold/GLD ratio (10.93); open interest is in ounce-equivalents (1 GLD contract ≈ 9.1 oz). US market closed: chain from the last close (27 Oct 16:00 ET).
Max pain for every open gold options expiry, from GLD and IAU ETF open interest. The next expiry settles Wednesday 28 October at 16:00 ET with max pain at 4,067; XAU is 4,062.10. Last updated 28 October 2026, 10:05 UTC.
Right now (10:05 UTC): Gold put/call ratio (open interest, all expiries, GLD and IAU options): 0.48; next expiry Wed 28 Oct: 0.77, max pain 4,067. Watch it live: 1h candles + heatmap →
Gold max pain right now
Updated 28 Oct 2026, 10:05 UTC · descriptive data, not advice
- Gold put/call ratio (open interest, all expiries, GLD and IAU options): 0.48; next expiry Wed 28 Oct: 0.77, max pain 4,067.
- Next gold options expiry: Wed 28 Oct, 16:00 ET (in 10 h), max pain 4,067, +0.1 % from the current price of 4,062.10.
- Next Friday expiry (30 Oct): max pain 4,089, 1,359,385 oz open interest.
- Next monthly expiry (20 Nov): max pain 4,264, 8,408,685 oz open interest, put/call 0.79.
- Open gold options across 28 expiries on GLD and IAU: 45,718,029 oz ($185.71B).
Max pain for every expiry
Each dot is one expiry. If max pain were a magnet, the dots would sit on the dashed line at expiry; the record further down shows how often that happened.
| Expiry | Type | Max pain | From price | Open interest, oz | Notional | Put/call | Expected move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wed 28 Oct | DAILY | 4,067 | +0.1 % | 203,439 | $826M | 0.77 | ±0.9 % |
| Thu 29 Oct | DAILY | 4,056 | -0.2 % | 73,143 | $297M | 0.42 | ±1.5 % |
| Fri 30 Oct | WEEKLY | 4,089 | +0.7 % | 1,359,385 | $5.52B | 0.58 | ±1.8 % |
| Mon 02 Nov | DAILY | 4,034 | -0.7 % | 74,899 | $304M | 0.49 | ±2.2 % |
| Tue 03 Nov | DAILY | 4,002 | -1.5 % | 40,345 | $164M | 0.82 | ±2.5 % |
| Wed 04 Nov | DAILY | 4,056 | -0.2 % | 29,316 | $119M | 0.94 | ±2.9 % |
| Thu 05 Nov | DAILY | 4,045 | -0.4 % | 10,592 | $43M | 1.02 | ±3.1 % |
| Fri 06 Nov | WEEKLY | 4,100 | +0.9 % | 451,535 | $1.83B | 0.82 | ±3.4 % |
| Mon 09 Nov | DAILY | 3,991 | -1.8 % | 5,031 | $20M | 0.17 | ±3.7 % |
| Fri 13 Nov | WEEKLY | 4,133 | +1.7 % | 216,210 | $878M | 0.84 | ±4.4 % |
| Fri 20 Nov | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 8,408,685 | $34.16B | 0.79 | ±5.2 % |
| Fri 27 Nov | WEEKLY | 4,100 | +0.9 % | 120,632 | $490M | 0.79 | ±5.7 % |
| Fri 04 Dec | WEEKLY | 4,078 | +0.4 % | 17,391 | $71M | 0.81 | ±6.4 % |
| Fri 18 Dec | MONTHLY | 4,209 | +3.6 % | 6,764,598 | $27.48B | 0.23 | ±7.6 % |
| Thu 31 Dec | QUARTERLY | 4,286 | +5.5 % | 1,310,529 | $5.32B | 0.36 | ±8.5 % |
| Fri 15 Jan 2027 | MONTHLY | 3,991 | -1.8 % | 13,332,125 | $54.16B | 0.43 | ±9.5 % |
| Fri 19 Feb 2027 | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 383,692 | $1.56B | 0.38 | ±11.6 % |
| Fri 19 Mar 2027 | MONTHLY | 4,373 | +7.7 % | 2,962,110 | $12.03B | 0.57 | ±13.1 % |
| Wed 31 Mar 2027 | QUARTERLY | 4,297 | +5.8 % | 423,642 | $1.72B | 0.68 | ±13.7 % |
| Thu 17 Jun 2027 | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 4,398,952 | $17.87B | 0.39 | ±17.3 % |
| Wed 30 Jun 2027 | QUARTERLY | 4,373 | +7.7 % | 314,593 | $1.28B | 1.33 | ±17.8 % |
| Fri 17 Sep 2027 | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 425,225 | $1.73B | 0.71 | ±20.9 % |
| Thu 30 Sep 2027 | QUARTERLY | 4,002 | -1.5 % | 19,893 | $81M | 0.52 | ±21.2 % |
| Fri 19 Nov 2027 | MONTHLY | 3,991 | -1.8 % | 5,607 | $23M | 0.25 | ±23.3 % |
| Fri 21 Jan 2028 | MONTHLY | 4,373 | +7.7 % | 2,372,287 | $9.64B | 0.59 | ±25.5 % |
| Fri 16 Jun 2028 | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 677,589 | $2.75B | 0.96 | ±30.2 % |
| Fri 15 Dec 2028 | MONTHLY | 4,264 | +5.0 % | 996,816 | $4.05B | 0.37 | ±35.1 % |
| Fri 19 Jan 2029 | MONTHLY | 4,155 | +2.3 % | 319,767 | $1.30B | 0.20 | ±35.9 % |
Open interest from GLD and IAU added together. Expected move = what at-the-money implied volatility prices from now until 16:00 ET on expiry day (one standard deviation). Monthly and quarterly expiries in bold.
The max pain curve for 30 October
For every possible settlement price, the curve adds up what all open calls and puts on 30 October would pay. Max pain is simply the lowest point: 4,089. 1,359,385 oz of open interest, put/call 0.58.
Max pain against the real settlement
| Expiry | Type | Max pain | Price before | Settled | From max pain | Closer to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tue 27 Oct | DAILY | 4,024.00 | 4,069.00 | 4,070.11 | +1.15 % | price |
How max pain is calculated
- Take every open call and put for one expiry, with its strike and open interest.
- Pretend the expiry settles at a given price. A call pays settlement minus strike if that is positive; a put pays strike minus settlement. Multiply by open interest and add everything up.
- Do that for every strike. The settlement price with the smallest total is max pain.
It says where the open positions would pay out the least. It says nothing about who holds them, and no one is obliged to move the price there. The max pain guide goes deeper, including our test of whether the price "pins" to max pain; that test has not been run on gold.
Gold funding rateGold open interestGold levels nowGEX by strikeGold put/call ratioRealized volatility
FAQ
What is gold max pain?
Max pain is the settlement price at which gold option holders, calls and puts together, would collect the least money at expiry. It is found by trying every strike as the settlement price and adding up what each open option would pay. It uses only open interest, so it is arithmetic on positions, not a forecast.
What is max pain today?
The table above shows max pain for every open expiry, starting with the one that settles next at 16:00 ET. It is recalculated every few minutes from open interest in GLD and IAU options.
Does the price move to max pain before expiry?
There is no rule that it should, and often it does not. Big expiries can settle several percent away from max pain. This page keeps its own record of where each expiry settled compared with max pain just before the settlement window, so you can see how close it really came.
Why is max pain different on other sites?
Sites use different options and update at different times. Other sites often show GLD on its own ETF scale (strikes around $370) or use COMEX futures options; we add GLD and IAU and convert both to the gold price, so the strikes differ from an ETF-only figure.
When do gold options expire?
GLD and IAU options expire at the US close, 16:00 ET (13:00 ET on early-close days): GLD has an expiry every weekday, weekly options on Fridays and the standard monthly options on the third Friday of the month. As the gold settlement price we use the GLD closing price times that day's gold/GLD ratio.
What is the put/call ratio?
Open interest in puts divided by open interest in calls for the same expiry. Above 1 means more puts are open than calls. It counts positions, not who bought or sold them.