Max pain // Cboe delayed data · as of Oct 27, 8:31 PM ET

APA max pain

Spot (delayed)$50.45
Max pain · Fri, Nov 6$50-0.9% vs spot
Expected move (ATM straddle)±$4.34±8.6% by Fri, Nov 6
Put/Call OI2.012K puts / 794 calls
Call wall$52largest call OI
Put wall$51largest put OI
IV3049.3%30-day implied vol
Net GEX−$124Kper 1% move · flip ≈ $45

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

Max pain levels

ExpiryMax painvs spotDTE
Fri, Oct 30$49-2.9%3d
Fri, Nov 6$50-0.9%10d
Fri, Nov 13$48-4.9%17d
Fri, Nov 20$47-6.8%24d
Fri, Nov 27$51+1.1%31d
Fri, Dec 4$51+1.1%38d
Fri, Dec 18$40-20.7%52d
Fri, Jan 15$20-60.4%80d
Fri, Mar 19$45-10.8%143d
Fri, Apr 16$42.5-15.8%171d

The writer-loss curve — where max pain comes from

spot50253239465360$4M$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 — 50 — is the max pain price.

Open interest by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot5025384346.55057430430
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)APA open contracts per strike for Fri, Nov 6.

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 6

spot5025384346.550573030
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Today's traded contracts per strike (delayed).

Implied volatility by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spot253239465360212%54%
— call IV— put IVATM ≈ 64.2% · Quoted strikes only; illiquid wings with junk fits are dropped, not smoothed.

Gamma exposure by strike · Fri, Nov 6

spotflip 4525384346.55057+$85K−$85K
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 6

Call ΔCall ΘStrikeΓVegaPut ΘPut Δ
0.82-0.0746.50.05010.02-0.07-0.18
0.79-0.07470.05490.02-0.07-0.21
0.76-0.0847.50.05950.03-0.08-0.24
0.73-0.09480.06390.03-0.09-0.27
0.70-0.0948.50.06790.03-0.09-0.30
0.66-0.09490.07160.03-0.10-0.34
0.62-0.1049.50.07460.03-0.10-0.38
0.59-0.10500.07710.03-0.10-0.41
0.51-0.10510.07950.03-0.10-0.49
0.43-0.10520.07850.03-0.10-0.57
0.35-0.09530.07440.03-0.09-0.65
0.29-0.09540.06800.03-0.09-0.71
0.23-0.08550.06020.03-0.08-0.77
0.18-0.07560.05170.02-0.07-0.82
0.14-0.06570.04340.02-0.06-0.86

Quoted contract greeks from the delayed feed (not modeled here); the highlighted row is nearest to spot. Showing 15 strikes around the money — all 38 are in the CSV. Δ per $1 of underlying · Θ per day · vega per IV point.

Stacked — layer the expirations

spot253943.54751581K0
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

spot2.527.53844.549.557.521K21K
■ calls (up)■ puts (down)Every expiration combined: 116K call contracts, 58K 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: APA workspace · max pain, explained in full · options profit calculator · iron condor and credit spread calculator · GEX, defined · pin risk