Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 26, 12:54 AM ET

ALGM max pain

Spot (delayed)$31.47
Max pain · Fri, Nov 20$32.5+3.3% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$6.18±19.6% by Fri, Nov 20
Put/Call OI0.162K puts / 14K calls
Call wall$35largest call OI
Put wall$35largest put OI
IV3080.4%30-day implied vol
Net GEX+$526Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $32.5

Event risk before this expiration: FOMC decision Wed, Oct 28 · Jobs report Fri, Nov 6 · CPI release Tue, Nov 10 — macro releases historically overwhelm pinning effects; max pain reads weakest in event weeks.

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Nov 20$32.5+3.3%26d
Fri, Dec 18$35+11.2%54d
Fri, Jan 15$35+11.2%82d
Fri, Feb 19$32.5+3.3%117d
Fri, May 21$35+11.2%208d
Fri, Aug 20$37.5+19.2%299d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot32.5183349648095$77M$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 — 32.5 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot32.517.53042.55567.5857K7K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)ALGM open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 20.

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, Nov 20

spot32.517.53042.55567.585119119
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spot183349648095206%81%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 86.9% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 20

spotflip 32.517.53042.55567.585+$324K−$324K
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, Nov 20

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.97-0.0117.50.00610.01-0.01-0.03
0.95-0.02200.01070.01-0.02-0.05
0.91-0.0222.50.01810.01-0.02-0.09
0.85-0.03250.02890.02-0.03-0.15
0.76-0.0427.50.04180.03-0.04-0.24
0.63-0.05300.05240.03-0.05-0.37
0.49-0.0532.50.05590.04-0.05-0.51
0.37-0.05350.05220.03-0.05-0.63
0.27-0.0437.50.04450.03-0.04-0.73
0.20-0.04400.03620.02-0.04-0.81
0.14-0.0342.50.02860.02-0.03-0.86
0.11-0.03450.02250.02-0.03-0.90
0.08-0.0247.50.01760.01-0.02-0.93
0.06-0.02500.01390.01-0.02-0.94

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 14 strikes around the money — all 28 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot2.522.537.552.567.5907K0
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

spot2.517.532.547.562.5808K8K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 21K call contracts, 6K 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: ALGM workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk